Chapter XII: Part 12

{317} The caterpillar, which may be beaten from birch, and sometimes alder, in July, is bright apple green with yellowish lines on the sides and back; the ring divisions are yellow, and the head is tinged with that colour. (Adapted from Porritt.) Sometimes the caterpillars are brownish, or greenish grey in general colour. The moth, which is out in May and June, will be found in woods, or on heaths, where birches grow. It rests on the trunks of the trees and may be boxed, as a rule, with ease. On some occasions, however, it is very lively, and the net will have to be brought into action for its capture.

The distribution of this species extends through England, but it is far more plentiful in the south than in the north, although it has been recorded from several places in Yorkshire, and from Coal Law Wood in Northumberland. It is found also in Wales, and in Scotland up to Moray. In Ireland it is not frequent, but has been noted from Mucross, and the Upper Lake of Killarney, in Kerry, and from Tinahely in Wicklow; Kane also gives Clonbrock in Galway, and adds that "some specimens from this locality have the spots very large on a clear whitish ground, so that they have a superficial resemblance to _Cleora glabraria_."

The range abroad spreads to East Siberia, Amurland, and Japan.

NOTE.--Staudinger places the last four species in _Boarmia_, Treitschke; but Prout and others refer them to the genus _Ectropis_, Hubner. The latter will probably have to be adopted. {318}

HORSE CHESTNUT (_Pachycnema hippocastanaria_).

The rather long and somewhat oval fore wings of this species (Plate 137, Figs. 8, 9) are brownish grey, inclining to purplish grey; the two cross lines are blackish, edged with whitish, but generally indistinct; when the lines are well defined, the enclosed central area is sometimes darker than the other parts of the wings; there is a black central dot, and occasionally there is a well-marked dusky central shade. Hind wings, whitish, more or less tinged with smoky grey; frequently there is a dusky, curved line beyond the middle, and this is sometimes outwardly edged with whitish.

The caterpillar is greyish brown, dotted with black, and marked on the back and sides with reddish brown. When at rest on the twigs of its food plant, heather or ling (_Calluna vulgaris_), this caterpillar agrees so well with its surroundings that it is not at all easy to see; at least, we may see it, but fail to distinguish it from the twigs of the plant. It may be obtained in June and July, and again in the autumn. (Figured on Plate 140, after Hofmann.)

The first flight of the moth occurs in April and May; the second in August, but specimens of the later generation are usually small in size and in number, as compared with those of the early brood.

In Britain, this species has so far only been found on the heaths of Kent, Surrey, Sussex, Hampshire, Dorsetshire, Somersetshire, Berkshire, and Suffolk; in all these counties it is more or less local, but it abounds in some of its haunts. It has been recorded from Hereford, and Edwards states that it occurs rarely in the Malvern district of Worcestershire.

2 Pl. 138.
1. SATIN CARPET: _egg and caterpillar_.
2. SQUARE SPOT: _eggs_.
3. THE ENGRAILED: _caterpillar and chrysalis_.

2 Pl. 139.
1-3. ANNULET.
4, 5. SCOTCH ANNULET.
6, 7. BLACK MOUNTAIN MOTH.

{319}

THE ANNULET (_Gnophos_ (_Sciadion_) _obscurata_).

In a general way, all the grey specimens of this species are referable to the type form _obscurata_, Schiffermuller; the true type, however, appears to be rare in Britain, even if it occurs at all. It is, perhaps, best represented by well-marked dark specimens from limestone districts, or the lighter ones from peaty ground. At Folkestone and in other chalky localities on the Kentish coast, the bulk of the specimens are pale grey inclining to whitish, usually with the black cross lines showing more or less clearly. Sometimes the lines are obscured by heavy freckling (ab. _woodiata_, Prout); not infrequently, at Folkestone chiefly, the inner and outer areas are pale, more or less free of freckling, but the central area, defined by black lines, is densely freckled; this is the banded form (ab. _fasciata_, Prout). A form occurs on the chalk hills at Lewes in Sussex, in which the wings are almost white, without freckling, but with distinct black lines and rings (ab. _calceata_, Staudinger); a modification of this whitish form from Lewes has been described by Prout as ab. _mundata_, "Almost pure whitish, with virtually no markings, excepting the annulets." On heaths in Surrey and Hampshire, and on the mountains of Aberdeen and Perthshire, a blackish form occurs (ab. _obscuriorata_, Prout = _obscuraria_, Hubner, 146); and sometimes specimens are found in which the wings are of "an intense and almost uniform black" (ab. _saturata_, Prout). In Devonshire and Cornwall, the species is darkish grey inclining to brownish (ab. _anthracinaria_, Esper); whilst on the coasts of North Devon and Wales it is of a slaty grey, more or less tinged with brown, and almost without markings; the Welsh specimens are large, and the wings are rather shining (ab. _uniformata_, Prout). A form, which I have not seen, of "a sandy or reddish colour" is referred by Prout (_Trans. City of Lond. Ent. Soc._, 1903, p. 39) to ab. _argillacearia_, Staudinger; it {320} occurs in sandstone localities. (Plate 84, Figs. 1, Folkestone; 2, New Forest; 3, Lewes.)

The rather rough and dumpy caterpillar is dark greyish brown above, inclining to purplish brown beneath; the raised dots are capped with white, and there is a pair of white-capped warts on the last ring (adapted from Barrett). It feeds on rock rose (_Helianthemum_), cinquefoil (_Potentilla_), salad burnet (_Poterium_), etc.; or the larvae may be reared on groundsel, chickweed, and strawberry, both wild and cultivated: September to May. (Plate 140, Fig. 2.)

Mr. A. J. Scollick kindly gave me some eggs, laid by a female taken in Surrey; they were yellowish green at first, but changed to pale brownish. The caterpillars hatched and seemed to thrive on groundsel, but they died during the winter.

The moth is out in July and August, and is widely distributed in England, but except that it occurs in Surrey, Berkshire, Herefordshire, and Worcestershire, it seems to prefer the seaboard counties, and in them chiefly affects localities near the sea. It is found in Wales, and in Scotland up to Moray; but in both these countries and also in Ireland it is most frequent on the coast.

SCOTCH ANNULET (_Gnophos myrtillata_).

This species (Plate 139, Figs. 4 [male], 5 [female]) was introduced, as a species new to Britain, by Curtis, who described and figured it as _Charissa operaria_ in 1826, from specimens captured in Scotland. Subsequently, it was found to be the _obfuscaria_, of Hubner, and also the _obfuscata_ of the Vienna Catalogue (1776). The latter, however, being only a bare name without description, was not generally accepted, although, if valid, it would be prior to Hubner. Still later the species was ascertained to be the _myrtillata_ of Thunberg (1792), and as this name is much earlier than _obfuscaria_ it is here adopted. As a matter of fact, both names are in use, as that of Hubner applies to our ashy grey form of the species, whilst that given by Thunberg belongs to the typical fuscous grey form.

2 Pl. 140.
1. HORSE CHESTNUT: _caterpillar_.
2. ANNULET: _caterpillar_.
3. BORDERED WHITE: _caterpillar, and chrysalis (enlarged)_.

2 Pl. 141.
1, 2. NETTED MOUNTAIN MOTH.
3. FROSTED YELLOW.
4-7. COMMON HEATH.
8-10. BORDERED WHITE.

{321} The rather stout caterpillar is grey with darker lines and V-shaped marks along the middle of the back, and dark-edged pale lines on the sides; two erect whitish points on ring 12. It feeds on heather (_Calluna_), broom (_Sarothamnus scoparius_), and needle furze or petty-whin (_Genista anglica_), but it may be reared on knot grass. September to June, sometimes later.

The moth is out in July and August, and frequents heaths, moor, and mountain, in Scotland from Clydesdale (including Bute and Arran) to Aberdeen and Ross, and the Isle of Lewis. A male specimen has been recorded from Ireland (Dowros Head, co. Donegal, 1898). It may be found resting upon rocks, stone walls, etc.; where these have suitable holes, crannies, or projections they are selected as hiding places. Sometimes the moth has been noted on the wing during the day, but at night it flies freely, and will then visit light.

BLACK MOUNTAIN MOTH (_Psodos coracina_).

The smoky-grey species represented on Plate 139, Figs. 6 [male] 7 [female], has two black lines on the fore wings; these are often edged with whitish, and the space between them blackish; the submarginal line is whitish, and the discal spot is black; the hind wings have a black central spot and two pale lines or bands. The female is rather smaller and much paler. In both sexes the central band of the fore wings is generally narrowed below the middle, and sometimes it is completely divided at this point.

As regards the British Isles, this species is known only to occur in the Highlands of Scotland. It is a day flyer, and very fond of sunshine, but its favourite haunts are situated at elevations of from 2000 to 4000 feet.

{322}

NOTE.--Newman (_British Moths_, p. 68) figures this species as The Dusky Carpet (_Mniophila cineraria_), and the insect, then known by the latter name, is figured as _Psodos trepidaria_, a synonym of the present species. In referring to this transposition of names, it may be well to add that _M. cineraria_, catalogued as British by Doubleday, and stated by Stainton (_Manual_ ii., p. 31) to have once occurred at Tenby, South Wales, can only be regarded as an "accidental." The specimen, which is in the Natural History Museum, at South Kensington, appears to be _Tephronia sepiaria_, Hufnagel, which is the _cineraria_ of Hubner.

A moth, supposed to be a specimen of _Dasydia tenebraria_, Esper = _torvaria_, Hubner, was reported as taken in Ireland "many years" before 1843, but at the present time that specimen, apparently, does not exist, and there is no exact description of it extant.

NETTED MOUNTAIN MOTH (_Fidonia carbonaria_).

The white wings of this species (Plate 141, Figs. 1 [male], 2 [female]) are freckled with blackish and crossed by black stripes; sometimes the freckling is so heavy that the white ground colour is much obscured and only distinctly seen as edging to the cross stripes.

The caterpillar is dingy ochreous or whity brown marked with wavy darker stripes. It feeds at night on birch and sallow; _Vaccinium_, _Erica_, bearberry (_Arctostaphylos uva-ursi_) have also been mentioned as food plants.

In April and May, the moth, which is to be found locally, high up on the mountains of Scotland from Perthshire to Ross, is on the wing, and flies in the sunshine. Writing of this species at Rannoch in May (about 17th), 1905, Mr. E. A. Cockayne remarks that the moths began to fly about noon, {323} when they appeared on all sides and were fairly active on the wing.

The distribution abroad is northern and Alpine, and the range extends to North-east Siberia.

FROSTED YELLOW (_Fidonia limbaria_).

This black-bordered orange-yellow species (Plate 141, Fig. 3) is not likely to be confused with any other occurring in Britain. The wings are more or less sprinkled with black, but this is usually most noticeable on the hind wings which are sometimes thickly sprinkled, or, more rarely, the yellow ground colour is entirely obscured. The form with a black discal spot on all the wings has been named ab. _quadripunctaria_, Fuchs. In ab. _fumata_, Mathew, the orange yellow is replaced by smoky umber brown, tinged with orange, and dusted with black atoms (bred July, 1899).

The caterpillar is greenish with grey-edged yellowish lines along the back, and a black-edged yellow one along the sides. The ground colour is sometimes purplish brown. It feeds on broom chiefly, but will eat other Genisteae. There appears to be two broods, one in June, and the other in September, or earlier sometimes. The moth is out in May and early June, and again in July and August, but it has been known to remain in the chrysalis for four years. It flies in the sunshine, and when resting, it sits like a butterfly, with its wings brought together over its back.

Stephens (1831) states that the species was "not uncommon among high broom in the vicinity of Birch-wood in Kent." Later authors give Stowmarket (common), Needham, Barham, and Ipswich, in Suffolk. There are no recent records from the county of Kent; and not much has been heard of the species from Suffolk, although it may still exist, in greatly reduced numbers, in some of its old haunts therein. {324}

COMMON HEATH (_Ematurga atomaria_).

Four specimens of this variable species are shown on Plate 141 (Figs. 4, 5 [male], 6, 7 [female]). The general colour of all the wings in the male is ochreous, inclining to whitish or to brownish. Usually the wings are speckled with brown, and the cross lines, or bands, are dark brown. Occasionally the cross markings are absent; but more frequently the three lines on the fore wings are much broadened and more or less united, sometimes forming a central band in which are a few ochreous scales towards the front margin: ab. _obsoletaria_, Zetterstedt. Dark brown or blackish specimens (ab. _unicolorata_, Staudinger) are captured now and then in the southern counties of England, but such uniform dark varieties are more frequent in the north (Staffordshire and Yorkshire). The female is white in colour, and usually only lightly speckled with blackish; the cross lines are more conspicuous, as a rule, than in the male, but they are subject to pretty much the same kind of aberration. Sometimes examples of this sex greatly resemble _Fidonia carbonaria_, and have been confused with that species by Haworth and other entomologists in the past. An abnormal specimen with six wings has been recorded, and Barrett mentions a gynandrous example--the right side like a small dark female, and the left an ordinary male; both antennae shortly pectinated.

The caterpillar, according to Fenn, is variable in colour and markings, all shades of brown, greenish brown, ochreous, purple, and grey; in some examples there are pale diamonds, and in others whitish spots, along the back. It feeds on ling and heath, and will eat clover, trefoils, broom, etc.: July and August, and occasionally September. The moth is out in May and June, and sometimes there are specimens on the wing in August. Abundant on almost every heath throughout the British Isles, except in the Shetlands.

2 Pl. 142.
1. V-MOTH: _caterpillar_.
2. YELLOW BELLE: _caterpillars_.
3. BORDERED GREY: _caterpillar_.
4. GREY SCALLOPED BAR: _caterpillar_.

2 Pl. 143.
1, 2. BORDERED GREY.
3. V-MOTH.
4, 5. RANNOCH LOOPER.
6. BROWN SILVER-LINE.
7-9. LATTICED HEATH.

{325}

BORDERED WHITE (_Bupalus piniaria_).

Two forms of the male of this species are represented on Plate 141. Fig. 9 shows the yellow English form (ab. _flavescens_, White), and Fig. 10 the white North English and Scotch forms. In southern localities, however, specimens occur which are almost as white as the northern or even Scotch examples; I have two such specimens from Surrey. There is considerable variation in the size of area occupied by the pale colour, both in white and yellow forms. In one of the former, from Forres, in Scotland, the white is represented by a small oval spot and dappled streak on the fore wings; an entirely black specimen (ab. _nigricarius_, Backhaus) has been noted from Berkshire. In other specimens there is an unusually large proportion of pale colour. The females are usually orange, or orange yellow, in the south (Fig. 8); and yellowish brown, or dingy orange brown, in the north. The brownish-coloured females occasionally occur in the south, and the brighter form of this sex is sometimes taken in the Midlands, where the two forms of the species seem to overlap.

The long, greenish caterpillar is marked with whitish or yellow lines; those along the back are edged with black, and along the sides with dark green. It feeds from August to October on the needles of the pine, and also on other firs. (Plate 140, Fig. 3; Fig. 3a shows a photo of the chrysalis, twice natural size, by Mr. H. Main.) The moth is out in May and June, later in the north; it is generally common in pine woods throughout England, Wales, and Scotland.

BORDERED GREY (_Selidosema ericetaria_).

Portraits of the male and female of this species (known also as _plumaria_) will be found on Plate 143, Figs. 1 [male], 2 [female]. The cross markings are more distinct in some specimens than in others, and the central one of the fore wings varies in width. {326}

The caterpillar (Plate 142, Fig. 3, from a photograph by Mr. H. Main) is grey, with a dark-brown or blackish irregular double line along the back, and pale lines along the sides, the lower one edged above with reddish brown; spiracles, black, as also are the dots on the back; the last ring ends in a point. (Adapted from Porritt.) It feeds on ling (_Calluna_), from September well on into the following spring.

The moth occurs on heaths and mosses in July and August, but it is local. On warm days the males are very active, but about dusk they are not difficult to capture. In southern England, the New Forest, Hants, appears to be its special home, but it is also found in other parts of that county, including the Isle of Wight, in Dorsetshire, and in Surrey; also noted from Berkshire. It is scarce in Cheshire, fairly common on the Witherslack mosses in North Lancashire, and at Ullswater in Cumberland. Except that it has been recorded from the Isle of Arran (1882), it does not seem to have been noted in Scotland. In Ireland it is widely distributed, and is abundant at Kinsale, co. Cork.

THE V-MOTH (_Thamnonoma_ (_Itame_) _wauari_).

The popular name of this species (Plate 143, Fig. 3) refers to the black discal mark on the more or less violet-tinged pale, greyish fore wings; but there is a good deal of variation in this character. Occasionally the wings are suffused with smoky (ab. _vau-nigraria_, Hatchett), or more rarely with blackish brown (ab. _fuscaria_, Thunberg).

On Plate 142 is a figure of the caterpillar, from a coloured drawing by Mr. A. Sich. The general colour is greenish, or some shade of brown; the lines on the back are white, and that low down along the sides is broad, and yellow; the raised dots are black with short bristles. It feeds in April, May, and June on the foliage of gooseberry and currant, and is especially fond of the tender shoots. {327}

The moth, which is out in July and August, is often common in gardens and orchards where bush fruit is grown, pretty well throughout the United Kingdom. It appears to occur only rarely in Ireland.

Abroad, the range extends to Amurland, and a form is found in Labrador.

RANNOCH LOOPER (_Thamnonoma brunneata_).

All the wings are of a rusty ochreous colour, sometimes, chiefly in the male, inclining to a purplish tint on the fore wings; the brownish cross lines are usually most distinct in the female, which sex Hubner figured as _pinetaria_. (Plate 143, Figs. 4 [male], 5 [female].)

The caterpillar is reddish brown, with a black-edged dark-green irregular line along the middle of the back; a white line on each side of the central one, and following this are a dark-brown shade-like stripe and some brownish-green lines; the line along the spiracles is whitish, inclining to yellow. In general appearance it closely resembles a twig of bilberry (_Vaccinium_), upon the foliage of which plant the caterpillar feeds in the spring.

The moth is out in June and July, but in the British Isles it is only to be obtained in Perthshire and northwards in Scotland. Black-wood, Loch Rannoch, is the original, and a now well-known, locality for this species, which Curtis in 1828 figured as _Speranza sylvaria_.

The range abroad extends to Amurland and Japan, and to North America.

BROWN SILVER-LINE (_Lozogramma_ (_Phasiane_) _petraria_).

The two cross lines on the pale-brown, sometimes pinkish, fore wings, are edged with whitish, but this is most distinct on {328} the outer one. In some specimens there is a distinct submarginal line, but this character is only faintly in evidence as a rule, and occasionally it is entirely absent. (Plate 143, Fig. 6.)

The caterpillar feeds in June, sometimes earlier, on bracken or brake-fern (_Pteris aquilina_). It is olive green marked with reddish brown lines, and there is a whitish line under the black spiracles.

In most English and Welsh localities where bracken is plentiful, this moth should be found in May and June; also in the south of Scotland, but its occurrence in that country north of Clydesdale appears to be only casual. It is common in several parts of Ireland.

The distribution abroad includes Amurland and Japan.

LATTICED HEATH (_Chiasmia_ (_Strenia_) _clathrata_).

In its ground colour this species (Plate 143, Figs. 7, 8 [male], 9 [female]) varies from ochreous of some shade to white. The dark-brown or blackish cross lines and veins give a latticed appearance to the wings, hence both the Latin and popular names for this insect. There is much variation in the width of the cross markings; sometimes two or more unite and so form bands; more rarely, perhaps, the outer lines are absent, and the others broken up into dashes; or the blackish cross lines may be slender and the veins remain of the ochreous ground colour (ab. _radiata_, Haworth). A less frequent aberration has the wings dark brown or blackish all over, except a row of whitish or ochreous spots on the outer margins (ab. _nocturnata_, Fuchs = _nigricans_, Oberthur).

The caterpillar, which feeds on clovers and trefoils, is green, with white lines along the back and sides; the slightly notched head is rather glossy, and the mouth is brownish: June to September, in two broods.

The first generation of the moth is out in April and May, and {329} the second in July and August. It may be found in clover fields and on chalk slopes, etc., where the food plants flourish; although it is an active day flyer, it is not difficult to capture with the net. It is most plentiful in southern and eastern England, but its range extends throughout the United Kingdom to Clydesdale, and the species is widely distributed in Ireland.

The distribution abroad extends to East Siberia, Amurland, and Japan.

GREY SCALLOPED BAR (_Scodiona fagaria_).

In its typical form this species (also known as _belgiaria_, Hubner) is grey, more or less tinged with ochreous, speckled with brownish grey, and crossed by black-marked brownish-grey lines. The bulk of British specimens, especially those from southern localities, are whitish grey, thinly sprinkled with darker grey scales in the male, and sometimes heavily powdered in the female; a pair are figured on Plate 144, 1 [male], 2 [female]. The whiter form of the male, occurring in Britain chiefly in the New Forest, Hampshire, has been named _albidaria_, Staudinger.

The roughened caterpillar is figured on Plate 142 (photo by H. Main). In general colour it is dingy brown, with a whitish stripe along the back and some greyish marking on the sides. It feeds on ling and heath; growing slowly in the late summer, but more quickly in the spring, after hibernation, when it may be obtained at night from the tips of the heather twigs, either by searching or by means of the sweeping net. The moth is out in June and July in the south, and later in the north. It is found on moist heaths, moors, and mosses; when resting on the dark-coloured earth it so closely resembles a stone that it is probably frequently passed unnoticed.

The species is apparently more plentiful in the New Forest than in its other known southern localities (Kent, Surrey, Berkshire, Sussex, and Dorset). Its range northwards in England {330} extends from Worcestershire (Malvern, rare) to Cumberland and Northumberland. It seems to be distributed over the greater part of Scotland, including the Hebrides and the Orkneys. In Wales it has been recorded from Flint, Denbigh, and Carnarvon; and it is widely spread over Ireland, occurring chiefly on the bogs.

BLACK-VEINED MOTH (_Scoria lineata_).

This slightly ochreous tinged silky white moth has the veins of the wings blackish, and this is especially noticeable on the underside of the fore wings. A male specimen is shown on Plate 144, Fig. 3; the wings of the female are slightly smaller, and the body is stouter and shorter. This species is the _dealbata_ of Linnaeus, but _lineata_, Scopoli, is older by four years. The long caterpillar is greyish inclining to ochreous or brownish; several irregular darker lines on the back and sides. It feeds, in confinement, on knot-grass, dock, bird's-foot trefoil, etc., but in the open is said to eat wood grasses, such as _Brachypodium_, upon the blades of which the female moth has been seen to deposit eggs: July to May. The moth is out from late May through June; it flies in the sunshine, or rests among long grass, etc., from which it is readily disturbed. Its chief British haunts are in Kent (Higham, Wye, etc.); but it has been recorded from Sussex, Dorset, Somerset, Gloucester, and Herefordshire, chiefly in single specimens.

Abroad, the range extends to Amurland.

STRAW BELLE (_Aspilates gilvaria_).

This straw-coloured species (Plate 144, Fig. 4 [male], 6 [female]) will be easily recognised by the brownish stripe on the fore wings, which extends from the front margin, near the tip, almost to the inner {331} margin; this is sometimes faint, but rarely quite absent. The hind wings are paler and have a dusky central dot and incomplete band. The caterpillar, which in shape is somewhat similar to that of the next species, is ochreous grey inclining to pinkish on the sides; a dark almost blackish line along the middle of the back is edged on each side with pale ochreous, and there are other pale and dark lines along the sides. It feeds on thyme, cinquefoil, yarrow, and other low-growing plants; it may be reared on knot grass: September to June. The moth is out in July and August, and, although very local, is not uncommon on downs and hilly fields on the chalk in Kent and Surrey--Dover, Folkestone, and Rochester in the former county, and Leatherhead, Box Hill, and Reigate in the latter, are the best-known localities. It has also been reported from Sussex (Brighton, Horsham, near Polgate, Shoreham). In Devonshire it is said to occur at Braunton and Ilfracombe, but is scarce. In his catalogue of the Lepidoptera of Suffolk (1890) the Rev. E. N. Bloomfield notes the species as very plentiful in clover fields about Tuddenham. Also recorded from Somerset, Gloucestershire, Cheshire (West Kirby and Hale), and from near Harrow in Middlesex.

Very local and scarce in Ireland (Kane).

The range abroad extends to East Siberia and Amurland.

YELLOW BELLE (_Aspilates ochrearia_).

As will be seen from Fig. 5 [female] on Plate 144, this species differs from the last in its yellower colour and rather smaller size; the fore wings have two cross bands, generally well defined, but in the male they are sometimes very faint and slender, and specimens have been recorded in which the bands were missing.

The roughened caterpillar, figured on Plate 142, from a coloured drawing by Mr. A. Sich, is pale ochreous brown, lined and striped with darker brown. It feeds on wild carrot, plantain, {332} hawks'-beard, etc., and will thrive on knot-grass. There are two broods, one feeding in the spring, after hibernation; and the other in June and July, sometimes later. The first generation of moths flies in May and June, and the second in August and early September. The species occurs in all the southern seaboard counties of England from Kent to Cornwall, frequenting the downs and rough fields near the coast; also in the Sandbreck district of the eastern counties. It occurs in South Wales; and odd specimens have been reported from Cheshire (Delamere), and from Cumberland.

The range abroad extends to North-west Africa and Asia Minor.

GRASS WAVE (_Perconia_ (_Aspilates_) _strigillaria_).

A male and a female of this species are depicted on Plate 144, Figs. 7 [male] and 8 [female]. There is variation in the amount of dark speckling on the wings, and in the number and width of the cross markings; sometimes the first and second on the fore wings are united throughout their length, or towards the inner margin; coupled with this there is sometimes considerable increase in the width of the first cross marking of the hind wings. A rare variety in Britain is ab. _grisearia_, Staudinger, which is of an almost uniform greyish or greyish-brown colour, with the markings obscured.

The caterpillar is purplish grey, marked with paler and darker; two warts on the back of rings 7-10, the middle pair the largest and most prominent. It feeds on ling, heath, broom, and the flowers of gorse or furze, and is best obtained in the spring after hibernation.

2 Pl. 144.
1, 2. GREY SCALLOPED BAR.
3. BLACK-VEINED.
4, 5. YELLOW BELLE.
6. STRAW BELLE.
7, 8. GRASS WAVE.

2 Pl. 145.
1. TRANSPARENT BURNET: _caterpillar_.
2, 2a. NARROW-BORDERED FIVE-SPOT BURNET: _caterpillar, chrysalis and
cocoon_.
3, 3a. FIVE-SPOT BURNET: _caterpillar and cocoon_.
4. SIX-SPOT BURNET: _caterpillar_.
5. FORESTER: _caterpillar_.

{333} The moth, which is out in June and July, occurs on most of the heaths and moors throughout England; apparently commoner and more generally distributed in the south than in the north; but it seems to be rare on the eastern side of the country altogether. From Cheshire it spreads into Flint and Denbigh, North Wales. In Scotland, it is found in Roxburgh (Bellion Moor), Clydesdale (local, but common), and northwards to Ross. It is found on the boggy heaths of Ireland, and Kane states that it is abundant where it occurs.

The range abroad extends to Scandinavia and eastward to Asia Minor.

ZYGAENIDAE.

The moths belonging to this family are popularly known in Britain as Burnets and Foresters. Of the former seven kinds occur in the British Isles, and of the latter there are only three species.

All the species live in colonies, so that when a specimen is seen or captured others may be expected to occur on, or somewhere around, the same spot. The caterpillars bear a close resemblance to each other, and are not always easily distinguished.

Over thirty species of _Zygaena_ are found in Europe, and about thirty-six more have been described from other parts of the Palaearctic Region. There are at least twenty-five Palaearctic species referred to the genus Ino, and about ten of these are European.

By most authors _filipendulae_ is regarded as the type of the genus _Zygaena_, Fabricius; but others refer this species, and its allies, to the genus _Anthrocera_, Scopoli, using the Fabrician genus for _phegea_, Linnaeus. The latter species and its allies are perhaps more frequently referred to _Syntomis_, Ochsenheimer, the typical genus of the family Syntomidae, the systematic position of which is near the Arctiidae. It may be added that _S. phegea_, and also _Naclia ancilla_, have been reported as British. There does not seem, however, to be any reason to suppose that the occurrence of either species in Britain could be other than accidental. {334}

THE TRANSPARENT BURNET (_Zygaena purpuralis_).

Two Welsh specimens are depicted on Plate 146, Figs. 1 and 2; these are of the typical form. A rare aberration has the spots and the hind wings more or less suffused with blackish (ab. _obscura_, Tutt), but a still rarer variety has the crimson of spots and hind wings replaced by yellow (ab. _lutescens_, Tutt).

Newman in 1861 referred an Irish specimen to _achilleae_, but a little later, after seeing other examples, in the same year he changed the name to _nubiginea_. Birchall (_Ent. Mo. Mag._, iii. pt. i.) figured four forms of the species from Ireland; his _minos_ (Figs. 5a and 5b) seems to represent two modifications of ab. _interrupta_, Staudinger, in which form the red blotches are widely separated or interrupted by the ground colour; and his _nubigena_ is made up of more or less typical _purpuralis_ (Fig. 6a), and a variety (Fig. 6b), with red marks between the lower and central blotches.

The caterpillar (Plate 145, Fig. 1) is dark green inclining to olive above and paler below; the spots are black (outer row) and yellow (inner row); the line along the back is obscure whitish; hairs, whitish. It feeds on thyme and burnet saxifrage (_Pimpinella_). _Trifolium_ and _Lotus_ have also been given among other food plants. In late summer, and after hibernation, in the spring. The moth flies in June, and is locally common in Ireland (Clare and Galway), Wales (Abersoch), and Scotland (Oban, Loch Etive). It has been reported from Tintagel, Cornwall, and possibly, as suggested by Tutt, these Cornish specimens may turn out to be _Z. achilleae_, the latest addition to our small band of Burnets. Perhaps the Scottish specimens recorded as _purpuralis_, or at least some of them, may prove to be _achilleae_.

This species was figured by Brunnich, in 1763, as _purpuralis_, and authorities are now agreed that this name must be adopted in place of _pilosellae_, Esper (1781), or _minos_, Fuessly (1782). {335}

SCOTCH OR MOUNTAIN BURNET (_Zygaena exulans_).

This semi-transparent and rather greyish moth has five reddish spots on the fore wings. (Plate 146, Fig. 3.) So far as concerns the British Isles it is only known to occur in Aberdeenshire, where it was discovered on the mountains at Braemar in July, 1871, and where it may be still found by those who are acquainted with the situation of its lofty haunts. The late Dr. Buchanan White named the Scottish form _subochracea_, but others consider that it is not readily separable from _vanadis_, Dalman, which in turn is said by Tutt to be pretty much the same form of the species as that described as the type _exulans_, Hochenwarth.

The caterpillar is dark green above, and paler below; two velvety black stripes on the back, each stripe interrupted by yellow spots; warts with black hairs; head, black. It feeds on _Silene acaulis_, cyphel (_Arenaria cherleria = Cherleria sedoides_), clover, trefoils, _Azalea procumbens_, etc.; has been known to eat dock and knot-grass: August to June. The cocoon has been found on a stem of crowberry (_Empetrum_), and on heath and grass stems. The moth is out in July, and, like the rest of its kindred, delights in the sunshine.

_Zygaena achilleae_.

A specimen of this species, quite recently introduced as British, has been kindly lent by Mr. B. Adkin. It was taken, with others, in the vicinity of Oban, Argyllshire. Mr. Sheldon informs me that he believes that a worn Zygaenid he captured in 1898, in the Glencoe district, was this species.

On Plate 1, with the Scottish example (Fig. 2) referred to, is also shown a specimen from the continent (Fig. 3), and it will be noted that the former is very like the latter. In some {336} respects this species is not unlike some confluent-spot forms of _filipendulae_, but it is a more slender-looking insect, and the body is more hairy. Further, the upper basal spot of the fore wings is lengthened almost to the upper spot of the middle pair, and the fifth and sixth spots together form an almost oval mark. Both specimens depicted seem to be referable to var. _viciae_, Hubner. In the typical forms the spots are larger. A yellow form ab. _flava_, Oberthur, is known on the continent.

The caterpillar, after Hofmann, is figured on Plate 1, Fig. 5. It is said to feed on _Astragalus_ and _Coronilla_.

NEW FOREST BURNET (_Zygaena meliloti_).

Two examples of this, normally, five-spotted little species are shown on Plate 146, Figs. 4 [male], 5 [female]; a variety, referable to ab. _confusa_, Staudinger (spots run together forming streaks somewhat as in _purpuralis_), is depicted in Plate 148, Fig. 1. Occasionally a sixth spot is in evidence (ab. _sexpunctata_, Tutt). A form in which the body has a red belt is known abroad as ab. _stentzii_, Freyer, and examples having traces of this belt have been recorded from the New Forest, which, it may be added, is the only locality in Britain producing this species.

The caterpillar is of a dull pale greenish colour, with numerous black speckles; three whitish lines on the back, the central one greenish tinged and broader than the others, which are interrupted on each ring by a yellow spot; between the lines is a series of black dots, one on the outer edge of each ring; hairs, from greenish warts, white and short; head, black, dotted with white. It feeds on bird's-foot trefoil (_Lotus corniculatus_), and other trefoils and clovers: August to May. Sometimes the caterpillars do not complete growth until they have passed two winters in hibernation. The cocoon, which is yellow or yellowish white, has been found on a grass stem, but {337} it is generally placed so low down among herbage that it seems to be rarely detected.

The moth is out in June and early July.

As previously stated the only part of Britain that the species inhabits is the New Forest, Hampshire. Here it was first met with in Stubby Copse, about 1869, but was apparently not distinguished from _Z. trifolii_ until 1872. It is now less frequent in its old haunt than formerly, although it still occurs there; in other spots around, I believe, it is not uncommon in some years.

Some authorities refer this species to _viciae_, Schranck.

FIVE-SPOT BURNET (_Zygaena trifolii_).

Four specimens of this species are portrayed on Plate 146. In the typical form (Figs. 7 [male], 8 [female]) the central pair of crimson spots are united and often form a large blotch; ab. _orobi_, Hubner (Figs. 6 [male], 9 [female]), has the spots placed well apart. Other more or less frequent aberrations are depicted by Mr. Horace Knight on Plate 148 where Fig. 2 represents ab. _glycirrhizae_, Hubner (spots 3, 4, and 5 united); Fig. 3, ab. _basalis_, Selys (spots 3 and 4 united with the basal pair); and Fig. 4, ab. _minoides_, Selys (all the spots united, forming an irregular patch). An extreme development of the last-mentioned form has been named ab. _extrema_, Tutt (see _Entom._ xxix., p. 341, Fig. 2). Specimens with a sixth spot as in _Z. filipendulae_ have been occasionally recorded, and an example with the lower spot of the central pair absent has been taken in West Sussex by Mr. W. M. Christy, who has also obtained a number of specimens of a yellow form (ab. _lutescens_, Cockerell) in the same locality. The yellow form is shown on Plate 148, Fig. 5. Some of the yellow aberrations also exhibit variation in the spots pretty much as in the ordinary form. In some localities, especially marshy ones, the spots on {338} the fore wings and the hind wings are occasionally dull orange; and I have noted specimens in the Weybridge district, Surrey, with the spots on the fore wings of a pinky ochreous colour, whilst the hind wings were of the usual crimson. Such "aberrations" as those last mentioned probably result from weather exposure. In 1899, Mr. G. B. Corbin recorded the capture, near Ringwood, Hants, of a specimen which had the spots on the fore wings and the red of the hind wings darkened over with dull smoky black, so that the insect when seen at a distance seemed to be wholly black. Dr. Hodgson has recently obtained several of these melanic specimens in Sussex. A form with the spots and hind wings suffused with brownish has been named ab. _obscura_, Oberthur.

With regard to six-spot examples referred to this species, I am inclined to suppose that they may be the offspring of a chance pairing of _trifolii_ and _filipendulae_. That such crossing does occur in nature I have evidence, as on one occasion I found four mixed pairs, the male being _trifolii_ in each case, and the female typical _filipendulae_. This was in the Weybridge district, where I had come across a colony of the latter species and was closely examining the specimens for aberrations.

The caterpillar (Plate 145, Fig. 3) is green inclining to yellowish and to bluish, with black marks on the back; a series of black streaks low down along the sides. It feeds on _Lotus corniculatus_, and on other trefoils and clover: July to May. Sometimes taking two years to complete its changes.

In damp meadows the moth is out in May and June, but in marshes it does not appear, as a rule, until July, and may be found in early August. The marsh specimens, which are sometimes rather large in size, have been referred to _palustris_, Oberthur, and are treated by Tutt (_Nat. Hist. Brit. Lep._, vol. i.) as a sub-species.

2 Pl. 146.
1, 2. TRANSPARENT BURNET.
3. SCOTCH BURNET.
4, 5. NEW FOREST BURNET.
6-9. FIVE-SPOT BURNET.

2 Pl. 147.
1, 2. NARROW-BORDERED FIVE-SPOT BURNET.
3-5. SIX-SPOT BURNET.
6, 7. SCARCE FORESTER.
8, 9. THE FORESTER.
10, 11. CISTUS FORESTER.

{339} In the British Isles, the species is apparently confined to England and North Wales. In the former country it is locally common in most of the southern counties; still more local in the eastern counties, and northwards to Lancashire and Yorkshire. There are records from Armagh and Fermanagh, but Kane appears to doubt the occurrence of the species in Ireland. There is no doubt that the next species has frequently been mistaken for the present one, therefore the actual range of _trifolii_ in the British Isles has probably not been fully ascertained.

NARROW-BORDERED FIVE-SPOT BURNET (_Zygaena lonicerae_).

As will be seen from the two specimens represented by Figs. 1 [male] and 2 [female] on Plate 147, this species bears considerable resemblance to ab. _orobi_ of _Z. trifolii_. The chief differences are in the rather longer fore wings and the more pointed tips of the hind pair; the borders of the hind wings are often narrower. In a broad way, it may be stated that the general tone of colour in the male of _lonicerae_ is bluer than that of _trifolii_. The union of any two or more spots is rarely seen in this species in Britain, but specimens with all the spots joined together have certainly been noted. A yellow form, ab. _citrina_, Speyer (= _flava_, Oberthur), is known on the continent, and Barrett states that it has occurred in England. In ab. _lutescens_, Hewett, the hind wings are orange. Ab. _eboraceae_, Prest, is semi-transparent, steel blue; the spots and the hind wings are pink, the border of the hind wings brown, and the fringes of all the wings are whitish.

The caterpillar (Plate 145, Fig. 2) is very similar to that of the last species, but the black marks on the sides are heavier, and the hairs of the body are longer. It feeds on trefoils and clover, and sometimes passes two winters before becoming full grown. The cocoon, which is attached to stems of grass, etc., is generally placed well up above the ground, so that it is readily seen. {340}

The moth, which is out in late June and in July, occurs in woods and plantations; also said to be found in meadows, and on rough waste ground, as well as in marshes and salterns. The distribution is much as in the last species, but it is plentiful in East Yorkshire, and the range extends to Cumberland and Northumberland.

SIX-SPOT BURNET (_Zygaena filipendulae_).

This species (Plate 147, Figs. 3-5) is the most generally common of our Burnets. Perhaps the most frequent form of variation in the spots of the fore wings is that in which the outer pair run together, and so form a blotch; but union of the middle pair is not an uncommon occurrence. In ab. _cytisi_, Hubner, the three pairs of spots are each united, so that the fore wings have three separate blotches, and when these are of a dull scarlet instead of the usual crimson, ab. _ramburi_, Lederer, is represented. Occasionally, all the spots are united, as in ab. _cytisi_, and the blotches thus formed are connected by reddish streaks in various modifications leading up to ab. _conjuncta_, Tutt, which has all the spots merged into a large blotch, extending over the disc of the fore wings. From the normal crimson, the spots and the hind wings vary now and then to orange (_aurantia_, Tutt), or to yellow (ab. _flava_, Robson = _cerinus_, Robson and Gardner); intermediate shades between these two extremes, and the typical coloration, are rather more frequent. I am indebted to Mr. R. Adkin for the loan of the example of the yellow form shown on Plate 148, Fig. 6. Pink, and orange, forms have been noted from various parts of England, but they seem to occur, or have been found, more especially in Cambridge and the north-east corner of Essex. Fig. 7, Plate 148, represents an example of ab. _chrysanthemi_, Hubner, and is copied from Oberthur's _Etudes d'Entom._, xx., Plate 8, Fig. 134. A few specimens referable to this form, probably not exceeding half a dozen altogether, have been recorded as taken in England. In typical _filipendulae_ the dark blue border of the hind wings is narrow, but in ab. _hippocrepidis_, Stephens (_tutti_, Rebel), the borders are rather broad. Another character of this form is that the nervule upon which the sixth spot is placed is here of the ground colour, and therefore divides the spot. (Plate 147, Fig. 3.) At Northwood, Middlesex, I have found this form in May and June, and also in the Weybridge district, Surrey, in late July; and, it may be added, there was a flourishing colony of _Z. trifolii_ hard by in each locality. For this reason, plus the fact that _trifolii_ [male] is known to pair with _filipendulae_ [female], I hold the opinion that _hippocrepidis_ is a hybrid. It may be noted here that hybrids have been raised from the crossing of _filipendulae_ and _lonicerae_; the sexes of _lonicerae_ and _trifolii_ pair somewhat readily, and the hybrid offspring of such pairings are fertile.

2 Pl. 148.
1. NEW FOREST BURNET, AB. _CONFUSA_.
2, 3, 4, 5. FIVE-SPOT BURNET, VARS.
6, 7. SIX-SPOT BURNET, VARS.

2 Pl. 149.
1. FESTOON MOTH: _caterpillars and cocoons_.
2. TRIANGLE MOTH: _caterpillars_.

{341} It seems, then, that _trifolii_, _lonicerae_, and _filipendulae_ have not, so far, lost the power of fertile cross-pairing. Wherever colonies of two of the kind exist within visiting distance of each other, there, it appears, we may reasonably expect to find hybrids.

From a number of cocoons collected in a Yorkshire locality for _lonicerae_, I reared, in 1907, a good many examples of that species, and also about a dozen six-spot specimens, which agree in colour with _filipendulae_, but they have the vein-interrupted sixth spot and broad border to hind wings, as in _hippocrepidis_.

The caterpillar (Plate 145, Fig. 4) is greenish, with black markings and some yellow spots, the latter chiefly on the hind edges of the rings. It feeds in the autumn and after hibernation, on trefoils, clover, bird's-foot (_Ornithopus_), and kidney-vetch (_Anthyllis_), completing growth in the spring.

The moth flies on sunny days in July and August, on chalk downs, etc., inland, and on cliffs and sand hills on the coast, also in marshes; but, as previously stated, it also occurs locally in meadows in May and June. {342}

SCARCE FORESTER (_Ino_ (_Rhagades_) _globulariae_).

Of the three species occurring in Britain this is slightly the larger, at least in the male. The fore wings are green, sometimes with a slightly golden sheen; fringes, greyish. The male is best distinguished from _statices_ by its more slender body, and by the pectinated and rather pointed antennae. The female is a good deal smaller than the male; the antennae are simple, and somewhat thread-like, compared with those of the females of _statices_ and _geryon_. (Plate 147, Figs. 6 [male], 7 [female].)

The caterpillar is green, with the raised spots inclining to bluish; two yellowish-white lines along the back, and a dark green stripe along the sides; head and plate on first ring of the body, black. It lives on knapweeds (_Centaurea nigra_ and _C. scabiosa_), feeding on the leaves much in the same manner as the caterpillar of the next two species.

The moth is out in June and July; it is partial to blossoms of salad burnet (_Poterium sanguisorba_), and only flies in the sunshine. The late Mr. J. Jenner Weir, who found the species commonly on the downs near Lewes, Sussex, was the first entomologist to record it as British. The best known localities in Sussex are Hollingbury Vale and Cliffe Hill, but it also occurs at the Devil's Dyke near Brighton. In Kent it is found on the downs behind Folkestone and Shorncliffe Camp.

THE FORESTER (_Ino_ (_Adscita_) _statices_).

In its most frequent form in Britain, this species is bronzy green (ab. _viridis_, Tutt); the typical bluish green type is much less frequent. The female is smaller than the male, but the difference in size is hardly ever so marked as in the sexes of _globulariae_. The antennae of the male are pectinated, but the tips are thickened. (Plate 147, Figs. 8 [male], 9 [female].) {343}

The caterpillar (Plate 145, Fig. 5) is whitish, inclining to green, yellow, or pinkish, on the back, and the sides are pinkish brown; the hairy warts are brown or pinkish brown, and the small head is glossy black. It feeds on sorrel (_Rumex acetosa_), and it attains full growth, after hibernation, about the end of April. On leaving the egg-shell in the summer, the young caterpillar bores into a leaf, and eats the tissue between the upper and lower skins; later on it attacks the foliage from the underside, but leaves the upper skin intact; or the process may be reversed, and the under skin left.

The moth is on the wing in June, sometimes late May. It occurs, locally, in meadows, frequently damp ones, where there is plenty of ragged-robin (_Lychnis flos-cuculi_), the blossoms of which plant it seems to prefer to all others.

Widely distributed over England, but in Wales only recorded from Capel Curig and Barmouth, in the north of that country (1900). In Scotland its range extends to Moray; and in Ireland it is found in counties Wicklow, Cork, Clare, Westmeath, Monaghan, Sligo, and Galway.

CISTUS FORESTER (_Ino_ (_Adscita_) _geryon_).

This species is much smaller than the last; the fore wings, the outer margins of which are somewhat rounded, are bronze green, but, in the male, rather dull in tint, sometimes tinged with golden towards the base. The antennae are more stumpy than those of _statices_, but in other respects they are similar in appearance. The female is not much smaller than the male. (Plate 147, Figs. 10 [male], 11 [female].)

The caterpillar is yellowish white, with bristle-bearing warts of pretty much the same colour; three lines on the back, the central one whitish, edged on each side with purplish, the others waved and of a claret colour; a reddish-brown stripe low down {344} along the sides; head and plate on first ring of the body black, the latter edged in front with yellowish. It feeds on rock rose (_Helianthemum chamaecistus_). At first it attacks the leaf from the upper side, and partly burrows therein; when older it clears away patches from the under surface, leaving the upper skin of the leaf more or less transparent; as it approaches full growth it likes to take its meals in the sunshine, and then eats the top skin as well as other parts of the leaf, and also tender shoots: July to May. The moth is out in June and July, as a rule, but is sometimes observed in May. Its haunts are on warm slopes of chalk downs and limestone hills, where it flies in the sunshine.

This species was first noted as British in March, 1860, when specimens from Worcestershire were recorded as _Procris tenuicornis_. It seems, however, to have been considered doubtfully distinct from _statices_ until 1863, when the caterpillar was found, and the occurrence of the species in several other English counties recorded. At the present time _I. geryon_ is known to inhabit Sussex (Brighton and Lewes districts), Kent (Canterbury and Shorncliffe), Bucks (Aylesbury and Tring), Oxfordshire (Chinor), Gloucestershire (Cotswolds), Worcestershire (Malvern Hills), Derbyshire and North Staffordshire (Bakewell and Dovedale), Yorkshire (Richmond, Barnsley, Sheffield, etc.), and Durham (banks on the coast). In Wales, it is sometimes common on Great Orme's Head, Carnarvonshire.

COCHLIDIDAE.

This family of moths mainly comprises tropical species, and is but poorly represented in the Palaearctic Region. Only two species are European, and both occur in Britain.

As _Cochlidion_, Hubner, supersedes _Limacodes_, Latrielle, the name of the family so long known as Limacodidae, will have to {345} be changed to that here adopted. Meyrick, who sinks _Limacodes_ in favour of _Apoda_, Haworth, uses Heterogeneidae as the family name.

THE FESTOON (_Cochlidion_ (_Heterogenea_) _limacodes_).