The Moths of the British Isles Volume I Part 35

The caterpillar is dingy ochreous yellow, with a dark purplish stripe, enclosing a central line of the ground colour, on the back; spiracles black; head dark brown, plates pale brown (Porritt). From September to June, in stems of _Carex glauca_, _Dactylis glomerata_, and other gra.s.ses.

The moth flies in July and August, and although rare inland is pretty generally distributed around the coasts of the British Isles; apparently, from the Clyde area, confined to the east coast of Scotland, and not extending north of Moray.

[Ill.u.s.tration]

Pl. 134.

1, 4, 7, 10, 13, 16. MARBLED MINOR MOTH.

2, 5, 8. MIDDLE-BARRED MINOR.

11, 14. ROSY MINOR.

3, 6, 9, 12, 15. CLOAKED MINOR.

17, 18. LEAST MINOR.

19-21. SMALL DOTTED BUFF.

[Ill.u.s.tration]

Pl. 135.

1, 2. CLOUDED-BORDERED BRINDLE.

3. LIGHT ARCHES.

4, 5. CLOUDED BRINDLE.

6. REDDISH LIGHT ARCHES.

7, 8. SLENDER BRINDLE.

{277} THE CLOAKED MINOR (_Miana bicoloria_).

This is another variable species of the genus, and five specimens of it are shown on Plate 134. The typical form (Fig. 3) has the fore wings more or less brownish on the basal area, and whitish bordered with brownish on the outer area. Very frequently these wings are pale, or dark, brown marbled with darker brown, and with the stigmata and cross lines distinct, faint, or absent. Fig. 15 represents a form from Ireland, which is uniformly pale ochreous brown, sometimes reddish tinged. The caterpillar is yellowish ochreous, tinged with pink; three dull reddish interrupted bands, each intersected by a line of the ground colour; head reddish brown; plates on first and last rings of the body pale reddish brown (Buckler). In stems of gra.s.ses, such as _Festuca_ and _Aira_--April and May; probably after hibernation. The moth flies in August and September, sometimes earlier. At dusk it is often common in rough fields and gra.s.sy places near the sea.

Although found in some inland localities, it is more especially a coast species, and as such is widely distributed over the British Isles to the Orkneys.

THE LEAST MINOR (_Phothedes captiuncula_).

The pretty little moth shown on Plate 134, Figs. 17, 18, has the fore wings brownish ochreous, tinged with reddish brown, and with a darker central band and hind margin. Sometimes the whole basal area up to the white second line {278} is reddish brown; and in a form from Ireland named _tincta_, Kane, the coloration is somewhat similar to that of _M. literosa_. This species was first discovered in Britain by Messrs. Law and Sang, in a locality near Darlington, Durham, in 1854. It is now obtained in several places in that county, and in Northumberland. Also found in North Lancashire, Westmoreland, and once in Yorkshire. It occurs commonly in Co.

Galway and Clare, Ireland, and has once been taken in Killarney. There is also a record from Perthshire in Scotland.

The caterpillar is dull ochreous, with a reddish tinge inclining to purplish on rings two to seven; head reddish brown; plates on first and last rings yellow brown, the former edged in front with darker brown; spiracles black, three yellow spots on sides of rings two and three (Buckler). On _Carex glauca_ and other sedges, eating down the stems close to the roots. Will also eat ribbon gra.s.s--August to June. The moth flies, often in the early afternoon, from late June to August. It seems partial to rough fields, and hillsides, chiefly on the coast.

THE CLOUDED-BORDERED BRINDLE (_Xylophasia rurea_).

Of this common, generally distributed, and often abundant species, portraits of the typical form (Fig. 1), and of var. _alopecurus_, Esp.

(Fig. 2), will be found on Plate 135. The ground colour varies from the normal greyish white to a silvery white (var. _argentea_, Tutt), and through yellowish shades to a reddish ochreous; the markings in all these colour aberrations are more or less typical. In the var. _alopecurus_, Esp., there are also gradations; thus _combusta_, Haworth, is dark greyish brown; and a blackish brown, red tinged form is _nigro-rubidea_, Tutt. The caterpillar (Plate 130, Fig. 4) is variable in colour, one form is ochreous grey with three lines on the back, the central one white shaded on each side with grey; usual dots and spiracles are black; head blackish and shining. From {279} August to May on gra.s.ses. The range abroad extends to Amurland.

THE LIGHT ARCHES (_Xylophasia lithoxylea_).

In this whitish ochreous species (Plate 135, Fig. 3) there is little variation except that the darker clouding is more p.r.o.nounced in some specimens than in others. The caterpillar is brownish grey, tinged with ochreous or with greenish; usual dots blackish, as also are the head and the plates on first and last rings of the body. October to May, feeding on stems of gra.s.ses, near the roots. The moth is out in June and July, and is often seen on fences, etc., in the daytime. Generally distributed, and common in most places throughout the British Isles. In Scotland, however, it does not range north of Moray, and only on the eastern side.

THE REDDISH LIGHT ARCHES (_Xylophasia subl.u.s.tris_).

Except that the fore wings are somewhat reddish tinged, and not so long, this species (Plate 135, Fig. 6) is very similar to the last. The caterpillar is also very like that of the Light Arches, but has more red in its coloration. The moth is out in June and July, and affects limestone and chalk localities, and these chiefly on the coast. In Berkshire and adjoining counties it occurs in beech woods. Specimens have been recorded from Kendal in Westmoreland, but Yorkshire has been considered the northern limit of the species in England. It has been recorded occasionally from the fens. Paisley and Bonhill are given as Scottish localities in the _Fauna of the Clyde Area_ (1901). Widely distributed in Ireland but most abundant in the province of Connaught.

_Xylophasia zollikoferi._ The home of this species would seem to be in parts of Hungary, Russia and Western Asia, whence it very occasionally finds its way across the continent {280} to England. Its British history is as follows:--a specimen taken at Deal, by Mr. Harding, October, 1867; one at Inverurie in Scotland, by Mr. Tait, September, 1871; and one at sugar by Mr. T. A. Lofthouse at Linthorpe, Middlesbrough, September 26, 1903. Also recorded from Norwich, September, 1905, and from Methley, Yorks, August, 1910. (Plate 153, Fig. 6.)

THE DARK ARCHES (_Xylophasia monoglypha_).

The five portraits of this moth on Plate 136 will give some idea of the various forms it a.s.sumes. The blackish specimen is referable to var.

_infuscata_, White, and an extreme aberration of this form has been named _aethiops_, Tutt. The caterpillar is greyish, inclining to brownish or reddish; usual dots blackish; head and plate on first ring of body dark brownish, and shining. August to September, feeding on gra.s.ses and devouring the stems near the base. The moth is out from June to August, sometimes in October and November. It occurs in all parts of the British Isles and is often abundant.

THE CLOUDED BRINDLE (_Xylophasia hepatica_).

The most frequent form of this species (Plate 135) has the fore wings pale brown, with well-defined black markings, but without distinct cross lines.

When the wings are more clouded and suffused with reddish or purplish brown the paler ground colour shows up as cross lines, and these are more or less edged with blackish (var. _characterea_, Hubner). The caterpillar (Plate 130, Fig. 2) is dingy brown with shining black dots; three pale ochreous lines along the back, the central one most distinct; head black and shining; plate on first ring of the body black crossed by white lines, another on the last ring is blackish. Feeds from August to April on gra.s.ses, but will also eat various low plants. The chrysalis (Fig. 2A) which {281} is enclosed in a tender earthen coc.o.o.n, is reddish, blackish between the rings, and the last ring, which is blunt at apex, is furnished with four hooks. The moth is out in June and July. A common species in the eastern and southern counties of England, but less frequent or rare in the Midlands and northwards to Roxburgh in Scotland. Local and not numerous in Ireland. Range abroad extends to Amurland.

THE SLENDER BRINDLE (_Xylophasia scolopacina_).

This is another species with reddish brown clouded, pale ochreous brown fore wings. The ground colour may be whiter or redder than in the specimens shown on Plate 135, Figs. 7, 8. The caterpillar (Plate 130, Fig. 1) is dusky green above and whitish green beneath, the green shading into blackish along the sides; a fine whitish line along the middle of the back; usual dots black; head honey-brown and glossy, the jaws and a spot on each cheek black. It feeds on the juicy lower part of the stems of gra.s.ses, such as _Tritic.u.m_, but will also eat the leaves. In the spring, and till June, probably after hibernation. The moth is out in July and August, and as an uncommon event may be seen at rest on a tree trunk or paling. Stephens (1829) refers to its occurrence in the London district, and it still appears in woods around Highgate. It seems to be most plentiful in the woods of South Yorkshire, and in the Sherwood district of Nottinghamshire; but it has been found more or less frequently in several of the southern counties of England, and also in some northern ones. Its range abroad extends to Amurland and j.a.pan.

THE BIRD'S WING (_Dipterygia scabriuscula_).

The curious wing-like marks on the blackish fore wings of this moth (Plate 137, Figs. 1[male], 2[female]) are its chief features. The {282} stigmata are outlined in black, but are rarely paler than the ground colour. The caterpillar is reddish brown with yellow and black dots; three lines along the back, the central one white with a black edging, and the others blackish; head brown and glossy, marked with black; a blackish plate on first ring is also glossy, and is followed by a black mark on the next ring, both streaked with white. It feeds on dock, sorrel, and plants of the genus _Polygonum_, in July and August. The moth flies in late May and June, sometimes as a second generation in August or September. It occurs more or less commonly in most southern and eastern counties from Oxfordshire. In other parts of England, and in Scotland, it seems to be local or absent.

THE PURPLE CLOUD (_Cloantha polyodon_).

This moth is figured on Plate 137, Fig. 7. The first recorded British specimen was taken at Yarmouth, in June, 1839. In 1855 a specimen, found in a spider's web at Ashford, Hampshire, was exhibited at a meeting, held in May, of the Entomological Society of London. Two specimens were taken in 1892; one at Folkestone, Kent, at sugar, and the other outside Norwich, in Norfolk, at a gas lamp. In the _Entomologist_ for 1894, there is a record of a specimen captured at sugar, July, 1891, at Clonbrock, Co. Galway, Ireland. The species has a wide range abroad, extending eastward to Amurland and j.a.pan.

THE DEEP-BROWN DART (_Aporophyla lutulenta_).

In the south of England the species (Plate 137, Figs. 9, 10) is generally of a dark brown coloration on the fore wings, and the markings are often indistinct; but blackish forms also occur, although the latter are more frequent northwards, and in Scotland and Ireland are the prevailing form of the species. In black or blackish specimens, usually referred to _luneburgensis_, {283} Freyer, the hind wings in the male, have the veins more or less blackish and dotted with black beyond the middle; var. _sedi_, Guenee, has the fore wings pale greyish with the markings distinct, and the central area blackish.

The caterpillar is green, sometimes tinged with pink on the first three rings; three brownish broken lines along the back, and a violet edged white line along the spiracles. It feeds on gra.s.ses, yarrow, groundsel, dock, plantain, gromwell (_Lithospermum_), and other low herbage; also on buds of hawthorn and sloe in the spring. October to April. The moth is out in August and September, sometimes later. It is found most frequently on the coast, perhaps, but occurs in Cambridgeshire, Hunts, Oxfordshire, Gloucestershire, Berks, Kent, Surrey, Suss.e.x, Hants, and Isle of Wight; from Somerset to Cornwall; North and South Wales, Cheshire, Lancashire, and Yorkshire, and apparently in all counties northward except Westmoreland.

Widely distributed in Scotland from the border to the Hebrides and Orkneys.

It is found only on the coast in Ireland, and chiefly in the north-west.

THE BLACK RUSTIC (_Aporophyla nigra_).

This black or brownish black moth (Plate 137, Fig. 8) has the outer edge of the reniform stigma ochreous, and the cross lines are sometimes dotted with the same colour. The caterpillar is green, yellowish-brown, or dull purplish; first three rings often tinged with reddish; three darker, often broken, lines along the back; line along the black-edged white spiracles yellowish. It feeds on bedstraw (_Galium mollugo_), dock, plantain, gra.s.ses, etc. October to May. (The egg is figured on Plate 139, Fig. 3.) The moth is out in September and October. Chiefly a northern species, but it occurs in some of the southern counties. It is, however, most frequent in Northampton, Huntingdon, and Cambridgeshire; in Gloucestershire, {284} and Wales, and in the Isle of Man, c.u.mberland, and Westmoreland. In Lincolnshire, Yorkshire, and Lancashire it seems to be local or rare. It is found up to Moray in Scotland, and is sometimes plentiful in Aberdeenshire, Inverness, and Moray. Very local in Ireland, but Kane says that it is found in the extreme north, south, east, and west.

THE FEATHERED BRINDLE (_Aporophyla australis_).

The fore wings are pale grey, sometimes darker clouded, chiefly on the costa; the black cross lines, slender, wavy, but not always distinct; a short black bar from middle of the base and one below it on the inner margin; often two other bars, pretty much in a line with the basal ones, on the central area; a row of black wedges on the outer area, near margin.

Hind wings white in the male, pale brownish grey in the female. Most of our specimens, perhaps all, are referable to var. _pascuea_, Curtis. The caterpillar is yellowish green tinged with reddish above; a pale reddish line along the middle of the back has black V-shaped marks upon it, and there is a series of black marks on each side; the line along the spiracles yellowish; head green, brown freckled. Feeds, from October to April, on gra.s.ses, catchfly (_Silene maritima_), etc. The moth, which is figured on Plate 137, Figs. 3, 4, is out from late August to October.

This is a local species in England and occurs on the south coast; in Kent, on the sand hills at Deal; in Suss.e.x, on the downs at Brighton and Lewes; also on downs on the Isle of Wight. Farther west it is found at Portland in Dorset, and Torquay in Devon; thence along the Devon and Cornish coasts. In Ireland it is obtained, according to Kane, on the coast of Wicklow and Waterford, and is not scarce on the sand hills of Wexford Harbour.

[Ill.u.s.tration]

Pl. 136.

DARK ARCHES MOTH.

[Ill.u.s.tration]

Pl. 137.

1, 2. BIRD'S WING MOTH.

3, 4. FEATHERED BRINDLE.