The Moths of the British Isles Volume I Part 29

THE SMALL SQUARE SPOT (_Noctua rubi_).

There are two generations of this species. The first is on the wing in June, and the second in August, September, and sometimes even in October.

An example of each brood is shown on Plate 114, Fig. 3, 1st gen., Fig. 4, 2nd gen. The early moths are larger in size than the later ones, but are fewer in number. Moths of the second generation often abound at the sugar patches, and on ragwort blossom. The colour of {227} the fore wings varies from pale to dark reddish brown in both broods.

The caterpillar is greyish ochreous or brown, with dark-edged paler lines, and the brown head is marked with darker. It feeds on dandelion, dock, gra.s.s, etc. Those of the first generation feed from autumn to spring, and those of the second during the summer. The moth is found in almost every part of the British Isles, except, perhaps, the Hebrides and Shetlands.

THE SIX-STRIPED RUSTIC (_Noctua umbrosa_).

This species (Plate 114, Fig. 5), is also generally distributed over our islands as far north as Moray, but it is rather partial to marshy situations. The caterpillar, which feeds from August to May on dock, plantain, bramble, bedstraw, etc., is pale ochreous or brownish, freckled with darker, and with dark-edged, pale ochreous lines on the back, the outer ones with a series of black wedges along them; a dark brown stripe low down along the sides; head pale brown marked with darker. The moth flies in July and August. It seems to prefer the flowers of the ragwort and the honey-dew on foliage to sugar, but the latter has attractions for it nevertheless.

COUSIN GERMAN (_Noctua_ (_Mythimna_) _sobrina_).

On Plate 114, Fig. 6, is a portrait of this greyish suffused purple-brown species, which in the British Isles is seemingly confined to certain localities in Perthshire and Aberdeen, and was first met with in the former county by Weaver in 1853. According to Barrett it is found chiefly in mountain districts from 700 feet above sea-level upwards.

The caterpillar is reddish or red brown, slightly mottled with grey; the marking on the back almost linear, widening a little, but narrowly lozenge-shaped near the end of each ring, and {228} having on the widest part a round pale spot of dirty ochreous; sides much mottled with grey; dots and spiracles black, and under the latter a pale pinkish, ochreous, brown stripe; head shining brownish ochreous, with two black dots in front of each lobe. (Adapted from Buckler.) It feeds on heather, bilberry, birch, gra.s.s, etc. September to June. The moth flies in July and August.

THE SQUARE-SPOT RUSTIC (_Noctua_ (_Segetia_) _xanthographa_).

Four examples of this very common and most variable species are shown on Plate 114, Figs. 9-12. The colour of the fore wings ranges from whity brown, or drab, through various shades of grey-brown and red-brown to blackish. The more or less square reniform, and the orbicular, marks are subject to a good deal of modification; in some specimens they are whitish or ochreous and very conspicuous, and in others exceedingly faint or entirely missing; or the reniform may be well defined and prominent, and the orbicular absent; the cross lines are frequently obscure, except the dark-edged, pale submarginal, and this, too, may be wanting; occasionally there is a blackish shade between the stigmata and extending from the front to inner margins. The hind wings of the males are whitish, with a dark marginal border of variable width, but rarely, so far as I have noted, entirely absent; those of the females are uniformly darker.

The full-grown caterpillar (Plate 112, Fig. 3) is hardly separable from that of _N. umbrosa_, and feeds at the same date on low-growing plants, etc. The moth flies in August and early September. It is generally distributed throughout the British Isles, and is abundant pretty well everywhere.

THE FLAME SHOULDER (_Noctua_ (_Ochropleura_) _plecta_).

This moth (Plate 110, Fig. 7) is also common, and generally distributed throughout England, Ireland, Scotland (mainland), and Wales. The fore wings are usually purplish brown, but sometimes they are palish red brown; the creamy stripe on the front margin is more or less sprinkled with scales of the ground colour, occasionally so thickly that these marks appear reddish in tint; there is often a pale, wavy submarginal line, and in some specimens a dusky second line can be detected; not infrequently there are traces of the claviform mark, but I do not remember ever seeing any indication of a first line. The hind wings are white, and frequently the fringes are pale pinky brown.

[Ill.u.s.tration]

Pl. 114.

1, 2. BARRED CHESTNUT.

3, 4. SMALL SQUARE-SPOT.

5. SIX-STRIPED RUSTIC.

6. COUSIN GERMAN.

7, 8. DOTTED CLAY.

9, 10, 11, 12. SQUARE SPOT RUSTIC.

[Ill.u.s.tration]

Pl. 115.

1, 2. LUNAR YELLOW UNDERWING.

4, 5, 7, 8. LESSER YELLOW UNDERWING.

3, 6. LARGE YELLOW UNDERWING.

{229} The caterpillar is brownish, varying from ochreous to reddish, freckled with darker; the broken lines on the back are pale, with dark edges, and there is a brown freckled, pale ochreous stripe along the sides; the usual spots are black, and the spiracles whitish, edged with brownish; head brown marked with darker. It feeds on various low plants, and also on lettuce, beet, etc., in gardens; there are certainly two broods in most years, one in the summer and the other in the autumn. The moth is out in May and June, and again in August and September. Specimens have also been taken in July, and occasionally in April. The species has a very extensive range abroad, extending to India, Corea, j.a.pan, and North America.

THE FLAME (_Axylia putris_).

This species, which is depicted on Plate 132, Fig. 13, is pretty constant in its pale coloration and darker markings. It is often common, and is widely spread throughout England, Wales, Ireland, and in Scotland up to Ross.

The caterpillar is greyish brown, mottled and dusted with blackish, chiefly so on the sides; the central line is darker but indistinct, and there is a yellow spot on each ring; a whitish line on each side of the central one is edged above with curved black dashes, and these are most distinct on rings four to ten; {230} the eleventh ring is edged behind with ochreous; head dark brown; spiracles and raised dots blackish. (Adapted from Fenn.) It feeds on hedge bedstraw (_Galium mollugo_), dock, plantain, nettle, and many other low plants; also on lettuce. July to October. Generally the winter is pa.s.sed in the chrysalis stage, and the moth comes out in the following June or July. Sometimes the moth has emerged in September.

THE LESSER YELLOW UNDERWING (_Triphaena_ (_Agrotis_) _comes_ = _orbona_).

This very variable species, of which the typical forms and two varieties are represented on Plate 115, is to be found, often abundantly, almost everywhere in the British Isles, except the Shetlands.

Apart from a form peculiar to Scotland, which will be separately referred to, the colour range of the fore wings is from pale ochreous-brown to a deep brown; in all shades there may be a tinge of reddish, or a suffusion of greyish. In Ireland and Scotland, and less frequently in England, a distinctly red form occurs. (Plate 115, Fig. 7.) Then there is variation in the markings, and more particularly in the reniform and orbicular marks; both stigmata are, perhaps, rarely absent, but they are frequently very faint, and of the orbicular there is often not a trace. On the other hand, both may be filled up with dark brown, or blackish, and very conspicuous.

The cross lines, and more especially the shaded submarginal, are usually pretty much in evidence, but these are apt to disappear entirely. The yellow hind wings are occasionally smudged with blackish towards the base; the central crescents vary in size, and somewhat in shape, and although sometimes greatly reduced, they are only rarely quite missing; the black band before the outer margin is also subject to modification in width and the regularity of its edges. {231}

Var. _curtisii_, Newman, was discovered in the Isle of Bute by Curtis in 1825, but until 1871, when Newman gave it the name it now bears, it had been known as _consequa_, the name a.s.signed to it by Curtis when figured by him in 1831. The form is generally rather smaller than the type; the fore wings are rich reddish brown, clouded to a greater or lesser extent with blackish, and sometimes entirely suffused with that colour. The yellow ground of the hind wings is rarely quite free of black scales, but in some specimens they are so thick that the yellow is hidden. A specimen of this form is shown on Plate 115, Fig. 8. It is found in the Orkneys, Sutherlandshire, Elgin, Inverness, Aberdeenshire; also in the Hebrides, and in the Isles of Bute and Arran.

The caterpillar (Plate 118, Fig. 2), is greenish ochreous varying to greenish brown; three yellowish lines on the back, the central edged with blackish and the others with dark oblong marks; spiracles white, edged with blackish, and below them an ochreous stripe; head grey brown marked with darker. It feeds on gra.s.s and most low plants from September to April. The moth is out in July and August.

Abroad it occurs chiefly in Central and Southern Europe, but its range extends to Southern Scandinavia and eastward to Asia Minor and Armenia.

THE LUNAR YELLOW UNDERWING (_Triphaena_ (_Agrotis_) _orbona_ = _subsequa_).

Two specimens of this species are shown on Plate 115. Fig. 1 represents a specimen from Forres, in Scotland, and Fig. 2 an example from the New Forest, Hants.

Although there is some variation in the colour of the fore wings (which ranges from pale greyish brown to dark reddish brown), and also in the intensity and clearness of the markings, this species is far less aberrant than that last referred to, and {232} from which it is at once separated by the black mark on the front margin, placed on the inner edge of the submarginal line. The caterpillar is distinguished from that of _comes_ by the black-edged broader ochreous central line, and a series of black oblong spots on each side of it; the stripe under the spiracles is broad, and ochreous. It feeds from September to April on gra.s.ses and various low plants. The moth flies in July and August. The species is widely distributed in Scotland, and occurs in Unst, the most northern of the Shetland Isles. In England it occurs, or has been found, in Durham, Yorkshire, Worcestershire (Malvern), Herefordshire, Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire, Norfolk, Suffolk (not uncommon in the "Breck" district), Surrey, Suss.e.x, Wilts, Hants (rather commonly in the New Forest), and the Isle of Wight. For Wales, Barrett states that it is rare in Pembrokeshire; and Kane mentions Co. Galway (four specimens), Killarney, and Lisbellaw for Ireland. The range abroad is somewhat similar to that of _comes_, but it extends further north in Scandinavia.

THE LARGE YELLOW UNDERWING (_Triphaena_ (_Agrotis_) _p.r.o.nuba_).

The colour of the fore wings of this common, and often abundant, species ranges through various shades of brown to dark purplish. In the typical form (Plate 115, Fig. 3), the wings are of the paler shades, mottled with darker, and the thorax, except the pale front, agrees in colour with the darker mottling of the wings. Fig. 6 shows the plain form (var. _innuba_, Treitschke), and it is in this form that the darkest colours appear; the thorax is always of the wing colour, and without the pale front. The black mark at upper end of the submarginal line is rarely absent, but I have a pale reddish-brown example of the _innuba_ form without the mark. In the black-bordered yellow hind wings a central crescent is very {233} exceptional, but specimens in which it is more or less evident are not unknown.

The eggs figured on Plate 118 were found in August, 1906, on a leaf of gladiolus in the garden. When first noticed they were of a pale creamy-white colour, but two days afterwards the upper half of the batch became purplish grey, and the caterpillars hatched out the following morning, when the other half had also changed colour, and the larvae hatched next day.

The caterpillar (Plate 118, Fig. 1), is obscure brownish, sometimes ochreous or green tinged; with ochreous lines on the back, the outer ones edged with blackish bars on rings four to eleven; head pale brown marked with darker. It feeds from August to May on gra.s.ses and low plants, and is often a pest in the flower or vegetable garden. When eggs are obtained early, the caterpillars from them will sometimes attain the moth state in the same year. The moth flies in June and July, and has occurred in April, September, and October.

THE BROAD-BORDERED YELLOW UNDERWING (_Triphaena fimbria_).

This is another species with variable coloured fore wings, and four examples of it are shown on Plate 116. Pale ochreous brown and greyish brown is the most frequent colour, but various shades of greenish or olive brown are not uncommon. A dark reddish-brown form, known to collectors as the "mahogany form," seems to be somewhat rare. In the majority of specimens the basal third, and more or less of the central area adjacent to the second line seems to be the darkest coloured; but occasionally these parts are pretty much of the same tint as the rest of the wings.

The caterpillar (Plate 118, Fig. 4) is of a soft ochreous brown, sometimes red tinted, minutely dotted with blackish; the central line on the back is pale, and on each side are darkly-edged pale {234} oblique streaks; the white spiracles are followed by blackish marks; head brown freckled with darker. It feeds in the autumn on primrose, violet, dock, etc., and in the spring it seems to prefer the buds and young leaves of birch, sallow, bramble, hawthorn, sloe, chestnut, etc. The chrysalis, which also is figured, is dark reddish-brown, with two short a.n.a.l spikes.

This species occurs in June and July, and frequents woodland localities throughout England, Ireland, Scotland (up to Moray), and Wales.

THE LESSER BROAD-BORDER (_Triphaena ianthina_).

Fore wings violet or purplish grey with blackish cross bands and brownish suffusion, the latter more especially on the basal area; reniform and orbicular stigma outlined in whitish. (Plate 116, Fig. 3.) In another form the bands and suffusion are reddish-brown. The black clouding on basal area of hind wings sometimes extends further towards the marginal band. The caterpillar (Plate 118, Fig. 3) is of a greenish tinged ochreous brown colour, with a pale central line and series of dusky dashes along the back, these dashes becoming blackish on the hind rings; the white spiracles are set in a blackish mark, and under them is a pale ochreous stripe. It feeds in the autumn on primrose, bramble, dock, etc., and in the spring on the young growth of sallow, elm, hawthorn, etc. The moth flies in July and August, frequenting lanes, hedgerows, and woods. It is pretty generally distributed throughout England, Wales, Ireland, and Scotland as far north as Moray.

THE LEAST YELLOW UNDERWING (_Triphaena interjecta_).

Fore wings, dull reddish brown with darker cross lines and shades, often faint. On the inner margin of the yellow hind wings, two dusky shades run from the border to the base; these {235} are not infrequently as black as the border, which is often broader than in the specimen shown on Plate 116 (Fig. 4). The caterpillar is ochreous brown dotted with black; on the middle of the back is a brown stripe enclosing a whitish central line. A brown stripe along the sides is edged above with whitish; the head is pale ochreous brown lined with darker. Stated by Barrett to feed on gra.s.ses and low plants, or, in the spring, on young shoots of sallow; said also to eat primrose and dock. September to May. The moth is out in July and August, and affects lanes and hedgerows. I have found it more frequently on flowers of ragwort, and on "honey-dew," than on the sugar patch; but have met with it occasionally darting along some particular bit of hedgerow, in the late afternoon. Although apparently uncommon in the Midlands, it occurs more or less freely throughout England to Durham. In Ireland it has been found in counties Dublin, Wicklow, Waterford, Cork, Louth, Westmeath, Galway (Kane), and, Barrett adds, Antrim.

THE GREEN ARCHES (_Eurois prasina_).

This moth is shown on Plate 117. When quite fresh the ground colour of the fore wings is a beautiful green, but this often fades after a time, and the wings then a.s.sume an ochreous hue. The cross lines are black relieved with whitish, and there is a whitish blotch on the second line touching the outer edges of the reniform stigma. The green colour varies in tint even when the insects are alive; and the black markings differ in intensity, being much stronger in some specimens than in others. The caterpillar is greyish brown, more or less tinged with violet; there are three fine whitish lines, and a series of blackish diamond-shaped marks on the back; the spiracles are white, and there is an ochreous stripe below them. It feeds on dock and other low plants, bramble, and in the spring on sallow shoots and the young growth of bilberry. July to April, or May. {236} The moth, which frequents woods; flies in June, but has been reared, as a second generation, late in the year. The species seems to be pretty generally distributed over England and Ireland, and is often common, especially in the south and east of the former country. From the Midlands northwards it appears to be less common, and its range more restricted. In Scotland it has been recorded from Roxburghshire (common at sugar in 1898), the Clyde district, and, Barrett adds, Perthshire.

THE GREAT BROCADE (_Eurois occulta_).