The Moths of the British Isles Volume Ii Part 26

The moth is out in May and June, and is to be beaten from hedges, or may be found at rest on tree-trunks, palings, etc.

Generally distributed, but not extending to the Scottish Isles.

Abroad, the range spreads to Amurland and j.a.pan.

COMMON MARBLED CARPET (_Cidaria truncata_).

Six examples of this very variable species are shown on Plate 66, and these have been selected to ill.u.s.trate the more important forms. There are a number of modifications of each of the forms, and several of these have been named. Fig. 1 of our plate represents the typical form, and this is Haworth's _centumnotata_ (Common Marbled Carpet); Fig. 2 is ab.

_commanotata_ of Haworth (Yellow Marbled Carpet); Fig. 3 is ab.

_perfuscata_, Haworth (The Brown Marbled Carpet), and Fig. 4 is a modification of the same form. A specimen from Arran is shown in Fig. 5; this example agrees fairly well with that figured in Wood's _Index_ as _concinnata_ from Arran. In his description of the form, Stephens does not mention fulvous bands in his type. Fig. 6 shows a specimen from Stornoway, Isle of Lewis, which appears to be a modification of the typical form of _truncata_, but it has some of the character of _concinnata_. The latter, it may be mentioned, is considered by Mr. L. B. Prout to be a distinct species, and as the genitalia have been found, on examination by Mr.

Pierce, to differ from these organs in _truncata_ and _immanata_, there seems to be reason to accept it as such.

[Ill.u.s.tration]

2 Pl. 66.

1-6. COMMON MARBLED CARPET.

7-12. DARK MARBLED CARPET.

[Ill.u.s.tration]

2 Pl. 67.

1. SPINACH: _caterpillar_.

2, 2a, 2b. CHEVRON: _eggs, caterpillar and chrysalis_.

3. PHOENIX: _eggs_.

{171} The caterpillar is long, slender, and wrinkled, especially on the sides; the ground colour is green, inclining to yellowish; three lines along the back, the central one dark green, and the others yellowish; sometimes a rosy stripe, or a series of dashes along the sides; the points on the last ring are green, or rosy. It feeds, in the autumn and again in the spring after hibernation, on sallow, birch, hawthorn, bilberry, wild strawberry, etc. It will also eat rose, but as the specimens resulting from caterpillars reared on rose are frequently small, such food is probably unsuitable; garden strawberry, on the other hand, is an excellent pabulum.

A photograph of the caterpillar by Mr. H. Main is shown on Plate 69, Fig.

1. There is a second brood in late June and in July. The first generation of the moth is out in May and June, and the second emerges in the autumn; specimens, possibly of a third generation, have been seen in December in favourable localities.

The species, which frequents woods and hedgerows, and is pretty generally common, is to be found almost everywhere throughout the British Isles. It has not, however, been noted from Shetland.

The distribution abroad extends to Amurland, China, and j.a.pan.

DARK MARBLED CARPET (_Cidaria immanata_).

This is another exceedingly variable species (Plate 66), and here again six examples have been chosen to ill.u.s.trate something of the range of aberration. Figs. 7 and 8 are of the {172} typical form, and Figs. 9 and 10 show the form _marmorata_, Haworth (Marbled Carpet); while Figs. 11 and 12 represent specimens from Shetland, and are referable to the island race known as _pythonissata_, Milliere; neither of the specimens figured, however, quite agrees with the type of this form, but Fig. 12 does so fairly well. In some specimens the general colour of the fore wings is tawny or rust-colour, or they are strongly suffused with that tint (ab.

_ferruginea_, Prout). I have such examples in my series of specimens from Lewes and the Shetlands. Ab. _thingvallata_, Staud., from Iceland, has the fore wings white, with black basal patch and central band, and I have seen at least one example from Yorkshire that closely approached this variety.

The caterpillar is not very unlike that of the last species, but it is rounder in appearance, the general green colour is paler, and the points on the last ring are blunt. It feeds from April to June on sallow, birch, bilberry, and wild strawberry. (Plate 69, Fig. 2, after Hofmann.) The moths are out in July and August, and may be found resting on tree-trunks, rocks, or stone walls; at night, when it is active on the wing, it is said to be often seen in numbers on the flowers of the rush, and this habit has been noted more particularly in Scotland.

The species affects woods and moors, and appears to be found more or less commonly throughout the British Isles.

MARSH CARPET (_Cidaria sagittata_).

The fore wings of this very distinct species are brown, with white-edged black bands at base and across the central area, the latter with a strong projection on its outer edge, almost reaching a white spot on the outer margin; sub-marginal line whitish, often only traceable on the front edge.

The central band is always narrowed below the middle, sometimes divided, {173} and occasionally this part of the band is finely cut off from both upper and lower portions. (Plate 68, Figs. 7, 8.)

The caterpillar is yellowish green, merging into pinkish on the sides; the pink is edged below with black, and this is followed by a dark olive stripe; rings 1-3 and 10-12 are wrinkled, whilst all the others are ridged across the back and along the sides. It feeds, in August and September, on the unripe seeds of meadow-rue (_Thalictrum flavum_), also on _T. minus_, and, according to Barrett, on old withered leaves of columbine.

The moth is out in July, occasionally at the end of June, and occurs locally in "Fenland."

Doubleday introduced it as British in the _Zoologist_ for 1848. He there states, "A single example of this pretty species was obtained last season near Peterborough, but I believe it was not in very good condition. A splendid female was sent to me from the same neighbourhood this week (July 15, 1848)."

In 1853 and 1854 the species was discovered in the fens of Huntingdonshire and Cambridgeshire. Later it was found to inhabit the fens of Norfolk and Suffolk. It is still obtained in the Cambridge fens from Bottisham to Chatteris. Outside "Fenland" it has been recorded from Worcestershire (Bewdley Forest) and Warwickshire (Rugby).

The range abroad extends to Amurland.

RED-GREEN CARPET (_Cidaria siterata_).

The general colour of the fore wings of this species (Plate 68, Figs. 1-4) is greyish green, with more or less of rosy suffusion; the basal patch and central band are darker green, and the latter is outwardly edged with whitish below the front margin, and towards the inner margin. The female has rather more ample wings, and is generally of a darker hue, but in both s.e.xes the basal patch and central band are blackish; the hind {174} wings are dark greyish brown, inclining to blackish in some females, and there is a blackish central dot and two or three curved lines.

The long caterpillar is yellowish green, with an interrupted red line along the middle of the back; two green points on last ring are usually pink-tipped. It feeds on oak, birch, ash, sloe, apple, etc., in July and August.

The moth occurs in woodlands, but is not easily disturbed in the daytime from its lurking-place in bush or tree. In the autumn it may be found at ivy-bloom, and in the spring, after hibernation, has been taken at sallow.

The species appears to be widely distributed over England and Wales, Scotland up to Moray, and Ireland.

AUTUMN GREEN CARPET (_Cidaria miata_).

Somewhat similar to the last, but the general colour of the fore wings is paler, inclining to whitish, and the basal patch and central band are pale green tinged with greyish; there is no rosy suffusion, but the wavy sub-marginal line is distinctly white. The hind wings are greyish white, with black discal dot, and dark-grey curved lines. (Plate 68, Figs. 5, 6.)

The caterpillar is pale green, inclining to yellowish, especially between the rings, and with a more or less distinct dark-green line along the middle of the back; the points on the last ring are pinkish brown, and there is a line of the same colour along the centre of the under surface of the body.

It feeds on alder, birch, oak, sallow, etc., and may be beaten out from June to August.

The moth is out in September and October, when it may be obtained at ivy-bloom, and in the following spring, after hibernation, it visits sallow catkins.

The range in the British Isles agrees pretty closely with that of the last species, but in Scotland it extends to the Hebrides and to the Orkneys.

[Ill.u.s.tration]

2 Pl. 68.

1-4. RED-GREEN CARPET.

5, 6. AUTUMN GREEN CARPET.

7, 8. MARSH CARPET.

[Ill.u.s.tration]

2 Pl. 69.

1. COMMON MARBLED CARPET: _caterpillar_.

2. DARK MARBLED CARPET: _caterpillar_.

3. BARRED YELLOW: _caterpillar_.

{175}

NOTE.--According to Prout, _sagittata_ is not a _Cidaria_, as its larva is of a very different form; and _siterata_ and _miata_ are referred to _Chloroclysta_, Hubner.

GREY PINE CARPET (_Thera variata_).