The Moths of the British Isles Volume I Part 36

5, 6. FEATHERED RANUNCULUS.

7. PURPLE CLOUD.

8. BLACK RUSTIC.

9, 10. DEEP-BROWN DART.

{285}

THE FEATHERED RANUNCULUS (_Epunda lichenea_).

This is a maritime species and is chiefly found in the Isle of Wight, the Isle of Portland, and along the coasts of Cornwall, Devon, Somerset, Gloucester, and on the opposite Welsh coast. It is locally common in Cheshire and Lancashire, and occurs on the coast of North Wales, in Flint and Carnarvon. In Yorkshire it is not uncommon at Scarborough. Has been recorded from the Lincolnshire coast and from Eastbourne. There are two records from Scotland--Renfrew and Ayr. In Ireland it is common at Howth, and abundant at Rossbeigh, Co. Kerry. This species, and the last two, have a rather limited range abroad. On Plate 137 are portraits of two local forms, Fig. 5 is from Portland, and Fig. 6 from Plymouth. It will be noted that the former is greyish in tone whilst the latter is greenish and rather larger. Similar local variation occurs throughout the range of the species.

The caterpillar (Plate 133, Fig. 2) is olive green inclining to brownish above; along the back are darker markings forming a central stripe and a paler interrupted stripe on each side; a pale stripe along the spiracles.

It feeds from autumn to May on various low plants. The moth flies from late August to early October. The first British specimen is said to have been taken in the New Forest in 1847; but in 1850 about a hundred were captured at New Brighton in Cheshire.

THE BRINDLED OCHRE (_Dasypolia templi_).

The dull ochreous-brown moth shown on Plate 138, Fig. 1, has hardly any well-defined markings, but the cross lines are generally darker, and the reniform and orbicular paler. The caterpillar, which feeds in the stems of cow-parsnip (_Heracleum sphondylium_) from April to August, is pinkish ochreous with a rather darker stripe on the back; raised spots brown; head {286} reddish brown. The moth flies in the autumn, and, after hibernation, in the spring. It frequents rocky places on the coast and on hills. Its range in England is pretty much as in the last species, but it does not seem to occur on the south-east coast. In Scotland it is widely spread over the country to the Orkneys, and has been found in the most northern isle of the Shetlands, but it is generally uncommon. It has been taken near Dublin in Ireland, and less frequently in Antrim and Donegal.

THE LARGE RANUNCULUS (_Polia flavicincta_).

The fore wings of this moth (Plate 138, Figs. 6 and 7), are pale grey, clouded, and marked with darker; yellowish freckles at the base, and on the central area and the submarginal line are usually, but not always, present.

Sometimes, chiefly in northern specimens, these wings are much suffused with darker grey, approaching blackish. The caterpillar is green with a yellowish or bluish tinge; a dusky line along the back, and a dark green line along the black-edged white spiracles. It feeds on dock, groundsel, plantain, and many other plants from April to July. The moth flies in September and October, and, except in Kent, and perhaps Suss.e.x, is rather uncommon in the southern counties of England. It occurs, however, not infrequently in the eastern counties, and through Oxford, Berks, Gloucester, Somerset to Cornwall, and northward through Hereford and parts of the Midlands to Lancashire, Yorkshire, and Durham.

THE GREY CHI (_Polia chi_).

Four specimens are depicted on Plate 138. Figs. 2 and 3 represent the s.e.xes of the type form, and Figs. 4 and 5, the greenish-grey var. _olivacea_, Stephens. Both forms may be paler or darker, but the green tinge is apt to fade out. Var. _suffusa_, Tutt, is a dark greyish suffused form. {287}

The caterpillar is green, inclining to bluish green above; the lines on the back are whitish, edged with dark green; that along the black-margined white spiracles is white, shaded above with dark green. It feeds on dock, dandelion, groundsel, etc.; also on sallow and hawthorn, from April to June. The moth is out in August and September. It prefers the open country to woodlands, and is often seen resting on rocks, stone, or other walls, and buildings. Except that it occurs in Devon and Dorset, the species seems to be absent in the south of England, but its area of distribution extends in the British Isles from the Midlands of England to Moray and Ross in Scotland, and to Ireland.

THE BLACK-BANDED (_Polia xanthomista_).

The form of this species occurring in Britain is var. _nigrocincta_, Tr.

(Plate 140, Figs. 2, 3), which is pale grey, spotted with white, and clouded on the central area with black. The typical yellow flecking and dotting is in this form usually spa.r.s.e, but occasionally it is prominent. A specimen reared from a caterpillar taken in the Isle of Man was suffused on the fore wings with bright orange.

The caterpillar is ochreous brown, varying in tint, above and pale green below the brown spiracles; the head is rather yellowish and very glossy. It feeds on sea thrift (flowers), and plantain in its haunts, which are the rocky coasts of Cornwall, North Devon, and the Isle of Man. In confinement it will eat groundsel, dock, dandelion, lettuce, etc. Usually the caterpillars do not hatch out until the spring, and then feed until June or July; but they have been known to hatch in the autumn, and then to hibernate. The moth flies in August and September, but, although it has been taken at sugar and light, is more frequently reared from caterpillars, which are readily found at night by those who may undertake the sometimes {288} hazardous business of collecting them. The earliest known British specimen was taken at a lighthouse near Padstow in Cornwall, and five years later the moth was bred from a caterpillar found in the Isle of Man. In 1880 a specimen was taken at sugar in the middle of a small wood in South Pembrokeshire. According to Hampson this, and the other two species usually included in _Polia_, are referable to _Ant.i.type_, Hubn. On the same authority _nigrocincta_, Treit., is the earlier name for the present species, as the figure of _xanthomista_, Hubn., was not published until 1827.

THE SPRAWLER (_Brachionycha_ (_Asteroscopus_) _sphinx_).

The black streaked and dotted, pale brownish grey moth (Plate 138, Fig. 8) occurs, more or less locally, in most of the English counties from Norfolk, Huntingdon, and Oxford, southwards; and from Gloucester northwards through Hereford and Worcester, to Cheshire, Lancashire, Yorkshire, to Darlington in Durham, and c.u.mberland. It is, however, rare in the northern counties.

The caterpillar is yellowish green; three whitish lines on the back, the central one broadly edged with green on both sides, and the others inwardly by a dark line; the front ring is edged with whitish, and the head is greenish. It feeds on the foliage of various trees, including oak, beech, elm, ash, sallow, lime in May and June. The moth flies in November and December.

THE RANNOCH SPRAWLER (_Brachionycha_ (_Asteroscopus_) _nubeculosa_).

The first British specimen was taken at Rannoch in the spring of 1854, and in that Perthshire locality the species is still to be found, sitting on the trunks of the birch trees in late March and in April. It has frequently been reared from the egg, but the caterpillars must be sleeved out on growing birch, or the mortality among them may be high. Even if they attain the chrysalis stage, the moth may not appear the following spring, as it has a habit of remaining in its sh.e.l.l for two winters, and sometimes more.

(Plate 140, Figs. 1[male], 4[female].)

[Ill.u.s.tration]

Pl. 138.

1. BRINDLED OCHRE MOTH.

2, 3. GREY CHI MOTH.

4, 5. GREY CHI MOTH, _var. olivaceae._ 6, 7. LARGE RANUNCULUS.

8. SPRAWLER.

[Ill.u.s.tration]

Pl. 139.

1, 1a. BLACK-BANDED MOTH: _eggs, natural size and enlarged._ 2, 2a. GOTHIC MOTH: _caterpillar and chrysalis._ 3, 3a. BLACK RUSTIC: _eggs, natural size and enlarged._

{289} The caterpillar is yellowish green, whiter on the back; the third ring is obliquely marked with yellow on each side; the eleventh ring is slightly raised and marked yellow, and there is an oblique yellow mark above the claspers; spiracles white edged with black, and the usual dots are pale yellow. It feeds on birch. May and June.

THE GREEN-BRINDLED CRESCENT (_Miselia oxyacanthae_).

This moth, which in its typical form was known to the ancient fathers of entomology as "Ealing's Glory," is shown on Plate 141, Fig. 2. The var.

_capucina_, Mill (Fig. 3), a purely British production by the way, has the fore wings dark sooty brown, inclining to blackish. The caterpillar, which has a white-marked and divided hump on ring eleven, is reddish or greyish brown, with dark grey and greenish mottling; the back has three darker lines along it, and there is a sort of diamond pattern in greyish between the outer ones; rings three and ten striped with black; head reddish brown.

It feeds in April and May on hawthorn, sloe, crab, and apple. Widely distributed throughout the British Isles, but apparently not found north of Moray in Scotland.

THE DOUBLE-SPOT BROCADE (_Miselia bimaculosa_).

Stephens, referring to this species in 1829, states that he had only seen one British specimen. This was in the British Museum, "to which it was presented by Dr. Leach; it was captured near Bristol, I believe, in July, 1815." Barrett notes {290} a specimen, said to have been taken by Peter Bouchard, in the collection of the late Dr. Mason. This is all that there seems to be known concerning this species in Britain. The specimen figured on Plate 141, Fig. 4, is continental.

THE MERVEILLE DU JOUR (_Agriopis aprilina_).

The pretty green moth, with white-edged black markings, shown on Plate 141, Fig. 1, is widely distributed over the greater part of the British Isles.

It occurs in oak woods, or in localities where oak trees are plentiful. The caterpillar is of an obscure greenish-grey coloration, sometimes inclining to brownish; a white line along the back, and a dark one low down on the sides; over the back spreads a series of blackish marks showing a more or less diamond pattern. It feeds in the spring and until June on oak leaves, and often rests by day on the trunks, in the c.h.i.n.ks of the bark. The moth flies in September and October, rather earlier in Scotland.

FLAME BROCADE (_Rhizotype_ (_Trigonophora_) _flammea_).

The earliest record of this species (Plate 141, Fig. 6) in England dates back to 1855, when five specimens were obtained at sugar in a locality near Brighton, in Suss.e.x. The next year, and subsequently, it was found, not only in the original place, but also in the Lewes and Sh.o.r.eham districts.

Later it was met with in other localities in the county, and for several years captures were made in most of its known haunts. For some years past, however, it seems to have disappeared from Suss.e.x, and is not known to occur in any other part of the British Isles.

The caterpillar is ochreous brown, tinged with reddish; a dull brownish diamond pattern, and three lines along the back, the central line paler than the others; the spiracles and usual dots are white, ringed with brownish. Another form is green, as also are both forms in the younger stages. It feeds from December to April on pilewort (_Ranunculus ficaria_), _R. repens_, and other kinds of b.u.t.tercup. When full grown it is said to prefer ash or privet. The moth flies in late September and October.

[Ill.u.s.tration]

Pl. 140.

1, 4. RANNOCH SPRAWLER.

2, 3. BLACK-BANDED MOTH.

[Ill.u.s.tration]

Pl. 141.

1. MERVEILLE-DU-JOUR MOTH.

2, 3. GREEN-BRINDLED CRESCENT.

4. DOUBLE-SPOT BROCADE.

5. SMALL ANGLE SHADES.

6. FLAME BROCADE.

7. ANGLE SHADES.

{291} THE SMALL ANGLE SHADES (_Euplexia luc.i.p.ara_).