The Moths of the British Isles Volume I Part 38

Varies from pale ochreous white, through reddish shades, to a greyish brown. (Plate 145, Figs. 9 to 11.) The caterpillar is described by Hofmann, as pale reddish above and whitish below, with minute dark dots on the back and a fine blackish line along the sides; head and plate on first ring of the body brown and glossy. May and June, in stems of the jointed rush (_Juncus lamprocarpus_). The moth flies in July and August, and occurs in fens and marshes. At one time it was not uncommon in marshy localities around London, and it is still to be obtained in Richmond Park, Surrey. In some years it abounds in the Norfolk and Cambridge fens, and in others is hardly seen. It is also to be found more or less frequently but always local in Suffolk, Ess.e.x, Berks, Kent, Suss.e.x, Isle of Wight, Dorset (Isle of Purbeck), Devon, Somerset, Gloucester, North and South Wales, Cheshire, and Yorkshire; Argyllshire in Scotland; Ireland.

THE SILKY WAINSCOT (_Senta maritima_).

In its typical form (Fig. 7) the moth shown on Plate 145 is whity-brown, clouded with grey and sometimes tinged with brownish on the disc. The orbicular and reniform stigmata are round and faintly outlined in whitish.

In var. _bipunctata_, Haworth, the stigmata are black and conspicuous: var.

_wismariensis_, Schmidt, has a blackish central streak from the base broadening out towards the outer margin (Fig. 8): var. _nigristriata_, Staud., has the fore-wings finely streaked with black; and var.

_nigrocostata_, Staud., has the front margin broadly black. The caterpillar is ochreous grey with three fine interrupted, whitish lines on the back; spiracles black with darker lines along their area; head dark brown and shining. September to May, hiding by day in stems of reed (_Phragmites_) and at night {300} feeding on the caterpillars and chrysalids of other reed insects (Hofmann). The moth flies from late June to early August. It occurs in the fens of Norfolk and Cambridge, but in the former county it has been taken at Merton and King's Lynn. Dr. Wheeler states that it is usually found in the thicker reed beds where stems of the previous year's growth still remain. Specimens were obtained among reeds in the Harwich district, Ess.e.x, in 1902, and the species has also been recorded from Tring, Hertfordshire, Surrey, Suss.e.x, and the Isle of Wight.

THE FLAME WAINSCOT (_Meliana flammea_).

The original British specimen, which Curtis in 1829 named, described, and figured, was stated to have been taken "near Lewisham, towards Lee, in July." Now it is only known to occur in Huntingdon, Norfolk, and Cambridgeshire, chiefly in the fens; in Wicken fen in the latter county it is most plentiful. (Plate 145, Figs. 5, 6.) The caterpillar is greyish ochreous brown, rather paler beneath, with paler lines along the back and sides, the central one edged on each side with darker; spiracles whitish, outlined with black, and a greyish drab spiracular stripe with paler edges; head shining, and faintly netted with darker grey. (Condensed from Buckler.) Hides by day in the old stems of reed (_Phragmites_), and feeds at night on the leaves, August to October.

THE SMALL WAINSCOT (_Tapinostola fulva_).

The fore wings vary in colour from almost whitish through various shades of grey brown and reddish brown (Plate 145, Figs. 12 to 14). The caterpillar, pale shining pinkish ochreous; central stripe pale, bordered on each side with greyish brown. Head pale brown, marked with darker, shining. June and July in stems of sedges (_Carex_). The moth flies in August and {301} September, and is found in fens and marshy ground pretty well all over the British Isles, including the Hebrides.

THE CONCOLOROUS (_Tapinostola extrema_).

This species (Plate 146, Fig. 3) was at one time subsequent to 1844, when it was first discovered in Yaxley Fen, not at all scarce in that locality and in other fens in Huntingdonshire and Cambridgeshire. It then disappeared from all its old haunts, some of which were destroyed; but a few years since it was met with again in Hunts, and apparently not uncommonly.

BOND'S WAINSCOT (_Tapinostola bondii_).

The whitish moth shown on Plate 146, Fig. 4, was first taken at Folkestone, Kent, by Dr. Knaggs, in 1859, and named and described by him in 1861. It still occurs in that locality and also on the Devon and Dorsetshire coast, the known localities being Charmouth, Lyme Regis, and Sidmouth.

The caterpillar is dirty white in colour inclining to brownish at each end; a whitish line along the middle of the back; head brown. Feeds from August to June in stems of _Festuca arundinacea_. The moth flies in June and July.

THE MERE WAINSCOT (_Tapinostola h.e.l.lmanni_).

Present localities for this reddish species (Plate 146, Figs. 1, 2) are Wicken and Chippenham fens, Chatteris and Whittlesford, in Cambridgeshire; Monk's Wood in Hunts. Formerly Yaxley, where it was first taken in 1847, used to be a noted locality, but the insect disappeared when the fen was drained. It has been reported from Norfolk (Yarmouth), Lincolnshire, Devonshire (Dartmoor), and Hertfordshire (Hitchin), chiefly in odd specimens. The caterpillar has been described by Hofmann as yellowish-white, or reddish above and paler beneath; plate {302} on first ring of the body rather glossy, head glossy yellow brown. It lives from autumn to June of the next year in stems of the wood smallreed (_Calamagrostis epigeios_). The moth flies in July and August.

THE LYME GRa.s.s (_Tapinostola elymi_).

The more or less brownish-tinged, whitish-ochreous species shown on Plate 146, Figs. 5, 6, was not recorded as a British insect until 1861. It is now known to occur in England in many localities, but all on the east coast from Norfolk to Durham. In the _Entomologist_ for 1894, it is recorded as occurring at Montrose on the Forfarshire coast in Scotland. The caterpillar is described by Buckler as pale flesh colour, with a rather darker stripe along the back; spiracles black; head reddish-brown, shining; shining yellowish-brown plates on the first and last rings of the body. It feeds on the stems of lyme-gra.s.s (_Elymus arenarius_) in May and June. The moth flies at early dusk over and among its food plants, and later on it settles on the stems, from which it may be easily boxed.

THE BRIGHTON WAINSCOT (_Oria_ (_Synia_) _musculosa_).

This yellowish-clouded, whitish insect is a native of Southern Europe, Asia Minor, Syria, and North-west Africa. Occasionally it has occurred in England, and in the time of Haworth and Stephens one or two specimens seem to have been recorded as British. In 1855 an example was captured at Brighton, and others occurred in the same locality, and at Bexhill, Kent (Jenner), between that year and 1860. A specimen was recorded from Brighton in 1883, and one from South Devon in 1899. Reported from Wiltshire in 1910.

(Plate 146, Fig. 7.)

[Ill.u.s.tration]

Pl. 146.

1, 2. MERE WAINSCOT.

3. THE CONCOLOROUS.

4. BOND'S WAINSCOT.

5, 6. LYME GRa.s.s MOTH.

7. BRIGHTON WAINSCOT.

[Ill.u.s.tration]

Pl. 147.

1, 2. COMMON WAINSCOT.

3, 4. SMOKY WAINSCOT.

5. SOUTHERN WAINSCOT.

6. STRIPED WAINSCOT.

7, 8. OBSCURE WAINSCOT.

9. DEVONSHIRE WAINSCOT.

10. SHOULDER-STRIPED WAINSCOT.

{303}

THE LARGE WAINSCOT (_Calamia lutosa_).

This species, shown on Plate 145, Figs. 1, 2, varies somewhat in the colour of the fore wings, which is usually pale ochreous brown, but may be more or less reddish tinged, or clouded with dusky; there is a row of black dots beyond the middle of the wing, but these are sometimes faint or absent. The range in size is considerable, some specimens are about the size of _L.

straminea_ whilst others will equal that of a large _N. typhae_.

The caterpillar is whitish tinged with pink above, and with a dusky line along the back; head reddish brown and glossy; plates on first and last rings of the body shining pale brown. It feeds from April to June in the stems of reed (_Phragmites_), causing the leaves of the affected stems to whiten. The moth flies in August, September, and October, sometimes later, and occurs in marshes, and on the banks of streams and ditches, in most of the southern and eastern counties of England, and from Derbyshire to Durham; in Scotland it has been recorded from Roxburghshire (near Kelso, rare), Perthshire, Aberdeen, and Shetland. The species is widely spread in Ireland.

THE FEN WAINSCOT (_Calamia phragmitidis_).

In the typical form this species (Plate 145, Figs. 3, 4) the fore wings are whitish on the basal half, and incline to reddish on the outer half; var.

_rufescens_, Tutt, has these wings reddish all over, but somewhat darker on the outer margin. The caterpillar is ochreous white with a slightly paler stripe along the back, edged on each side with purplish; the spots are black, as also are the spiracles; head and plates on the first and last rings of the body black or blackish brown, glossy. It feeds from August to June in stems of reed (_Phragmites_), and is said {304} to hatch from the egg in the autumn. The moth flies in July and August, and is fond of the flowers of gra.s.ses growing in its marshy haunts. It is common in the Norfolk and Cambridge fens, and is found in suitable locations in Huntingdon, Northampton, Lincoln, Yorkshire, Cheshire, and South Lancashire, also in Berkshire, Suffolk, Ess.e.x, Kent, and Suss.e.x.

THE COMMON WAINSCOT (_Leucania pallens_).

This common, often abundant species (Plate 147, Figs. 1, 2) is pretty generally distributed over the British Isles. The typical coloration is pale ochreous; ab. _arcuata_, Stephens, is pale brownish ochreous; ab.

_ectypa_, Hubn. = _rufescens_, Haworth, is reddish; and ab. _suffusa_, Stephens, is also reddish, but powdered with blackish scales between the veins, and chiefly so under the median nervure. The hind wings in all forms are white in both s.e.xes; but sometimes slightly tinged with greyish on the outer margin in the female. The caterpillar (Plate 152, Fig. 1) which feeds on gra.s.ses from August to May, is pale whity-brown freckled above with pinkish brown; three whitish lines along the back, the central one narrowly edged on each side, and the others on the inner side only, with blackish; a greyish stripe along the sides with two pinkish brown lines above it; dots, minute, black; head freckled with dark brown. Distribution abroad extends to Amurland.

MATHEW'S WAINSCOT (_Leucania favicolor_).

This species (Plate 149, Figs. 1, 2) has been mainly found on the coasts of North-east Ess.e.x and South-east Suffolk, but it has also been taken at Hemley in Suffolk, and has been recorded from near Southend in Ess.e.x, and Rochester in Kent. In 1906 six specimens were captured in the Isle of Sheppey. So far as is known at present this is its range in England, and it does not seem to occur anywhere abroad. It was first discovered by Paymaster-in-Chief G. F. Mathew, in 1895, and was described by the late Mr.

C. G. Barrett in 1896.

[Ill.u.s.tration]

Pl. 148.

1, 1a. BROWN-VEINED WAINSCOT: _egg and chrysalis_.

2. TWIN-SPOTTED WAINSCOT: _egg, enlarged_.

3. BULRUSH MOTH: _chrysalis_.

4, 4a. FENN'S WAINSCOT: _caterpillar and chrysalis_.

5. REED WAINSCOT: _chrysalis_.

6. WEBB'S WAINSCOT: _chrysalis_.

7. DEVONSHIRE WAINSCOT: _caterpillar_.

[Ill.u.s.tration]

Pl. 149.

1, 2. MATHEW'S WAINSCOT.

3. THE DELICATE.