The Moths of the British Isles Volume Ii Part 27

In its typical form, the fore wings of this species are greyish, and from this the colour ranges through various tints of greyish brown to smoky brown or blackish; sometimes these wings are shades of ochreous brown. The usual markings are a basal patch, more or less clearly defined, and a central band, and these may be either brown or blackish; the band varies in width, is not infrequently narrowed or contracted below the middle, occasionally broken at this point, and more rarely only represented by a small angular spot near the front margin.

Four examples are shown on Plate 70, and of these 1 and 2 represent our ordinary form _obeliscata_, Hubner (Shaded Broad Bar, of Newman). Fig. 6 is a blackish banded specimen of the _obeliscata_ form, and Fig. 3 is the almost entirely blackish form _obliterata_, White (_scotica_, Staud.), which is not uncommon in the Paisley district, and other parts of Scotland, and also occurs in a modified form in some pine-woods in the South of England.

The long caterpillar (Plate 71, Fig. 1), which feeds on the needles of Scots pine in April and May, also in July, and sometimes in September, is bright green, with three whitish lines along the back, the central one broad, and a yellowish line low down along the sides; the green roundish head is lined with white.

The moth is generally common in pine-woods throughout the greater part of the British Isles. The May-June flight is the most abundant, but there is occasionally a good sprinkling of moths in the autumn.

Abroad, the area of distribution includes Eastern Siberia, Corea, China, and j.a.pan. {176}

CHESTNUT-COLOURED CARPET (_Thera cognata_).

This is a generally smaller species than that last referred to, and it is more glossy in appearance. The fore wings are brown, sometimes grey-brown, more or less tinged with reddish, and the basal patch and central band are darker; these markings are usually white-edged, and there is a wavy whitish submarginal line. Hind wings whitish, tinged with smoky grey. Specimens from the Hebrides are strongly purplish; and Kane states that some he reared from Sligo caterpillars are more richly coloured than any that he has seen from Scotland. (Plate 70, Figs. 9 [male] 12 [female].)

The bright green caterpillar is stouter than that of the last species. It is of a bluish hue along the back, and marked with three lines, the central one greenish and the others whitish and broad; there are sometimes reddish markings low down on the sides, just edging the broad white spiracular line. It feeds in May and June, earlier or later in some seasons, on juniper; it turns to a dark-green chrysalis in a frail coc.o.o.n spun up among the litter under the juniper bushes.

The moth is to be found in July and August among juniper growing in the hilly and maritime haunts of the species in North England, Wales, Scotland, and Ireland.

This species, long known as _simulata_, Hubner, has been referred to _cognata_, Thunberg, and as this is an earlier name it will have to be used.

PINE CARPET (_Thera firmata_).

The pale reddish-grey fore wings have a rather darker central band and round-edged basal patch, but the latter is often indistinct, and the band, which is always deeply indented about the middle of its inner edge, is sometimes not well defined. The hind wings are whitish, tinged more or less with greyish or pale brownish, but always paler than in any form of _T.

variata_, with which it is often confused. (Plate 70, Figs. 10, 11.)

[Ill.u.s.tration]

2 Pl. 70.

1, 2, 3, 6. GREY PINE CARPET.

4, 5, 7, 8. JUNIPER CARPET.

9, 12. CHESTNUT-COLOURED CARPET.

10, 11. PINE CARPET.

[Ill.u.s.tration]

2 Pl. 71.

1. GREY PINE CARPET: _caterpillar_.

2. PINE CARPET: _caterpillar_.

3. WELCH WAVE: _caterpillar_.

{177} The caterpillar is bluish-green above, and green beneath; three lines along the back, the central one a darker tone of the ground colour, the others whitish; head reddish, marked with brown on each cheek. It feeds in April and May (June in Scotland) on Scots pine; Barrett states that there is a second brood in August. (Plate 71, Fig. 2.)

The moth is out in September and October, and may be disturbed from the pine boughs, or occasionally seen resting on the trunks, but it is more frequently met with at night when it flies naturally, and has been known to visit the sugar patch. Barrett, who considered this species to be double brooded, gives June and July for the first flight of moths. Certain it is that moths have been reared even as late as October from Spring caterpillars. As adverted to, the pale reddish forms of _T. variata_ are sometimes confused with _T. firmata_, but in addition to other differences indicated above, it may be noted that in the male of the latter the antennae are bipectinated except towards the tips. Most of the pine woods throughout England seem to produce this delicate insect more or less frequently; the same remark applies to Wales. In Scotland it is found up to Aberdeen, and also in the Hebrides. The only localities mentioned by Kane for Ireland are in counties Westmeath, Dublin, and Fermanagh.

JUNIPER CARPET (_Thera juniperata_).

On Plate 70, Figs. 4 and 5 represent the s.e.xes of the typical form of this species, the small and rather more strongly marked Scottish form is shown by Figs. 7 and 8. In these small forms a noticeable character is the brownish band on the fore wings, between the central band and the outer margin; this band is {178} only indicated by a dusky greyish shade in the larger form. Most of the examples of the small form from the Isle of Hoy have also a dark central line on the hind wings. The central band of the fore wings is often broken below the middle, in both forms.

The caterpillar is yellowish green, inclining to a black tinge on the back, along which are three lines, the central one dark green, and the others yellow and rather broad; a whitish stripe low down along the sides is sometimes marked with yellow and red, and there is a red thread above it; head, pink tinged; two points on last ring of the body. It feeds in July and August, on juniper. The moth is out in October and November, and may be found plentifully flying at night about the juniper bushes.

Berkshire, Kent, Surrey, and Suss.e.x appear to be the only English counties in which it is established, and it is probably most plentiful in the last named. It has, however, been recorded from Suffolk, Lancashire, York, and Durham; also from Carnarvonshire in North Wales. It is more widely spread throughout Scotland, including the Orkneys and Shetlands, where the moths fly in July. Only doubtfully reported from Ireland.

WATER CARPET (_Lampropteryx suffumata_).

The fore wings are whitish, more or less clouded with brownish, with dark brown, inclining to blackish, basal patch and central band. The variation tends in two opposite directions; in the one the general colour is so clouded and suffused with blackish-brown, that the entire fore wings become almost entirely of that colour (ab. _piceata_, Stephens), N. England and Scotland; the other extreme is ab. _porrittii_, Robson, in which the central band and basal patch are black, and the white ground colour is almost free of brown clouding; the last named occurs at Dover {179} in Kent, and Huddersfield, Yorks. On Plate 72, Fig. 1 shows the typical form, Fig. 3 ab. _piceata_, and 2 ab. _porrittii_. The caterpillar varies from greyish, with pinkish or greenish tinge, to ochreous brown; the upper surface is rather darker than the under, and there is a series of dark V-shaped marks and arrow-heads on the back of rings 4-8; there is a whitish central stripe on 1-3, and a dark one on 9-12; head, brownish, marked with black. It feeds on goose-gra.s.s (_Galium aparine_), and other kinds of bedstraw, in May and early June. It seems to thrive best, however, on the goose-gra.s.s. (Plate 74, Fig. 1, after Hofmann.)

The moth may be found in weedy lanes and along hedgerows, pretty well throughout England, Wales, Scotland to Moray, and Ireland. It cannot, however, be said to occur in all suitable places, as although it may be found in some plenty in one lane or hedgerow in a district, it may be quite absent in similar spots just around. Wherever it is noted one year it may be almost certainly obtained there in subsequent years. April and May are the months in which it is usually seen, but it has been taken in June in late seasons, and occasionally in July.

LARGE TWIN-SPOT CARPET (_Coremia_ (_Ochyria_) _quadrifasciaria_).

The ground colour of the fore wings of this species is most often of a pale reddish brown, but sometimes it inclines to grey brown; the outwardly angled central band is often black, but more frequently perhaps the middle area is pretty much of the ground colour or greyish, with a black dot in the upper portion, and limited by two black lines which approach, or join, in the lower half. A dusky basal blotch is not always present, but it is sometimes well in evidence, as also is a dusky shade before the whitish submarginal line; frequently there are two blackish {180} or brownish dots on the upper part of this line, and a third dot above them, but nearer the outer margin. (Plate 72, Figs. 4, 5.)

The caterpillar is pale yellowish brown, finely freckled with grey, and with greyish V-shaped marks on the back; three greyish lines along the back, the central one broken, and the others most distinct at each end. It feeds on bedstraw (_Galium_) and other plants, such as primrose, groundsel, etc., from August to April. The moth is out in June and July, and should be looked for on tree-trunks growing around the borders of woods or in lanes near by. It may also be beaten out of hedgerows in the vicinity of woods.

A very local species and only found with us in the southern half of England. Its chief haunts appear to be in the counties of Kent, Surrey, Hants, Ess.e.x, Suffolk, Cambridge, and Norfolk (the Breck sand district); thence its range extends through Hertford, Buckingham, and Berkshire to Gloucester, where, however, it is scarce, as it is also in Lincoln. Abroad, the range extends to Eastern Siberia, Amurland, Corea and j.a.pan.

RED CARPET (_Coremia_ (_Ochyria_) _munitata_).

The typical form (Plate 72, Fig. 6) has pale greyish fore wings, and these are crossed by a black-edged purplish central band. In var. _hethlandica_, Prout (Fig. 7), the ground colour is ochreous and the band is reddish; this form is frequent in the Shetlands.

The caterpillar is yellowish green, with greyish clouds around white dots, tinged with pink between the rings; three lines along the back, the central one grey inclining to blackish, broken on three of the hinder rings, and edged with whitish; the others are double, wavy, brownish, a whitish stripe bordered above with grey along the area of the spiracles; head, ochreous, dotted with dark brown (adapted from Fenn). It feeds on lady's mantle (_Alchemilla_), chickweed, groundsel, etc., from September to May.

[Ill.u.s.tration]

2 Pl. 72.

1-3. WATER CARPET.

4, 5. LARGE TWIN-SPOT CARPET.

6, 7. RED CARPET.

8-12. RED TWIN-SPOT CARPET.

[Ill.u.s.tration]

2 Pl. 73.

1. BEECH-GREEN CARPET: _caterpillar_.

2. STRIPED TWIN-SPOT CARPET: _caterpillar_.

3. MOTTLED GREY: _caterpillar_.

{181} The moth is out in July and August, and in England is only found in the mountain districts of Yorkshire and the more northern centres. It has been reported from the high-lying district on the border of Cheshire, between Macclesfield and Buxton (Day), and from Llantrissant, Glamorganshire, S. Wales (Evan John). Generally distributed through Scotland and the Isles. Widely spread, but local, and not always common, in Ireland.

Abroad, the range extends to Eastern Siberia, Amurland and North America.

DARK-BARRED TWIN-SPOT CARPET (_Coremia_ (_Ochyria_) _unidentaria_).

Portraits of three examples of this species will be found on Plate 75, Figs. 1-3. The ground colour of the fore wings is whitish tinged with pale ochreous or greyish; the central band is blackish with darker wavy lines running through it near the edges, and not infrequently the middle area is greyish, either on the upper half, or throughout from front to inner margins; a narrow patch at the base of the wings is of the same colour as the central band, and is followed by a reddish-brown streak; as a rule, there is an irregular reddish-brown line, commencing in a cloud on the front margin, and sometimes stripe-like, beyond the pale edging of the central band; in ab. _coarctata_, Prout, the central band is much narrowed; the two black dots on upper part of the outer margin, generally well in evidence, are occasionally united, but sometimes they are very tiny. The hind wings are whitish, more or less sprinkled with dusky scales, chiefly on the basal two thirds, and crossed by dark-grey wavy lines.

Sometimes the central band and the basal patch of the fore {182} wings are dull reddish-brown, inclining to purplish. This form which has been referred to _corculata_, Hufnagel, is pretty generally distributed abroad, but is apparently only of local occurrence in the British Isles.

The caterpillar is very similar to that of the next species, it feeds on the same kinds of plants, and during the same months of the year. (Plate 74, Fig. 2.) The first generation of moths is on the wing in May and June, and the second in August.

The species is widely distributed in England and Wales, often plentiful in some districts in the southern half of the former country, scarce and more local northwards from Yorkshire. Widely spread in Roxburghshire and Clydesdale in Scotland, but less frequent than _ferrugata_; this also seems to be the case in Ireland. The range abroad extends to North America.