The Moths of the British Isles Volume Ii Part 30

{195}

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 4.

GARDEN CARPET AT REST.

(Photo by H. Main.)]

The caterpillar varies in colour from dark grey through yellowish green to obscure green, but the underside is always paler; on the back there is a series of pale blotches, and some black spots on the middle rings; the head is rather paler than the general colour, and marked with black. It feeds, at night, on cabbage, horseradish, wallflower, white arabis, and many other kinds of Cruciferae; and it is said to eat the foliage of gooseberry and currant. June--October.

There are certainly two broods, and possibly more, as the moths occur in greater or lesser numbers throughout the year, from late April to October, but it seems to be most plentiful in May and June, and in August and September.

Generally distributed over the British Isles. It is also an inhabitant of North America.

THE GALIUM CARPET (_Xanthorhoe galiata_).

The more usual forms of this species are represented on Plate 81, Figs. 1, 2. Fig. 3 is the portrait of a form occurring in Yorkshire, Suss.e.x, and probably elsewhere, in which the central band is blackish and solid-looking; this seems to be referable to _unilobata_, Haworth. Besides varying in tint of ground colour, and in the amount of freckling or mottling, there is modification in the width of the central band.

The caterpillar is brown, dotted with black, and striped with blackish brown on the back, and with pale brown on the sides; the head is light brown, sprinkled with black, and marked with {196} a dark V. It feeds on bedstraw in late June and July, and there is a second brood in August and September. The figure of the caterpillar on Plate 79, Fig. 3, is from a coloured drawing by Mr. A. Sich.

The moth is out in June, sometimes later in the north and earlier in the south, where it occurs as a second generation in August. It is chiefly found in chalk and limestone districts, and may be easily put up from the herbage among which it secretes itself during the day. In the seaboard counties of England, from Kent to Cornwall, it is especially common on the coast, but is also to be met with in suitable inland localities in these counties, and also in Surrey, Middles.e.x, Herts, Bucks., and Oxford. It is always rare on the eastern side, but on the west, including Wales, it is more or less frequent from Somerset and Wilts. to Westmorland. Not uncommon in Yorkshire, princ.i.p.ally in the West Riding, and an odd specimen has been recorded from Durham. Somewhat rare in Scotland, but it has been noted in Berwick, Wigtown, Arran, Clydesdale, and Perthshire. In Ireland it is local, although often plentiful on the coast.

Abroad, the range extends to Eastern Siberia.

WOOD CARPET (_Xanthorhoe (Epirrhoe) rivata_).

The broad, clear white borders of both edges of the dark central band of the fore wings, coupled with the clearer white of the hind wings, and the generally larger size of the moth, should distinguish this species from its very close ally, _X. sociata_; but it must be added that some forms of the latter species approach the present one exceedingly close. (Plate 81, Figs.

4, 5.)

[Ill.u.s.tration]

2 Pl. 80.

1-4. GREY MOUNTAIN CARPET.

5, 6. YELLOW-RINGED CARPET.

7-10. SILVER-GROUND CARPET.

11-14. GARDEN CARPET.

[Ill.u.s.tration]

2 Pl. 81.

1-3. GALIUM CARPET.

4, 5. WOOD CARPET.

6-9. COMMON CARPET.

10-12. SMALL ARGENT AND SABLE.

{197} The caterpillar is brown or olive-brown, dotted and freckled with white; three lines on the back, the central one black, the others whitish, not seen on rings 5-8, which have dark V-shaped marks enclosing white ones; sometimes there is a V-mark instead of lines on ring 4; head, large, pale brown sprinkled with blackish, and marked with a blackish V, the apex of which appears to meet the central line of the body. It feeds, at night, in July and August, on bedstraw (_Galium mollugo_, and _G. verum_), but will thrive very well on cleavers or goose-gra.s.s (_G. aparine_). The chrysalis, which is enclosed in a coc.o.o.n of silk coated with earth, is reddish brown, thorax and wing-cases paler, shining. A coloured drawing of the caterpillar, kindly lent, with others, for this volume, by Mr. A. Sich, has been used for the figures on Plate 79, Figs. 2, 2a; but the description of the caterpillar, and also of the chrysalis (Fig. 2b), are from material that Mr. Pope, of Exeter, was good enough to furnish. In captivity a second brood may be reared in August.

The moth is out in July and early August, and although local, is not uncommon in bushy places on downs, etc., also in lanes, in chalk districts, in most of the southern and eastern counties. In the north of England it is far more local and uncommon, but is known to occur in Cheshire, Yorkshire, and c.u.mberland, and has been recorded from Durham. It is found in Wales, and in Scotland has been noted as very local in Roxburghshire and rare in Clydesdale and Arran. Kane states that in Ireland it is "very rare and local."

COMMON CARPET (_Xanthorhoe_ (_Epirrhoe_) _sociata_).

The white ground colour of this species is nearly always obscured, to a greater or lesser extent, by greyish markings and suffusions on the basal area; the outer margin is broadly bordered with dark grey, and the white band between this and the dark-grey central band is intersected throughout its length by a grey line. As shown on Plate 81, Figs. 6, 7, the central band varies in width; it is often contracted below the middle, sometimes completely severed at this point, and in ab. _degenerata_, {198} Haworth, both portions are much reduced in width. Figs. 8 and 9 represent two specimens from the Isle of Lewis; these brownish-grey examples are var.

_obscurata_, South. There are intermediate modifications leading up to a form in which the whole of the central third of the fore wings is whitish, with the usual cross lines dingy grey, and some tiny clouds of the same colour around the black discal spot.

The caterpillar is very like that of the last species referred to, but it is rather smaller in size and rougher in appearance. There is variation in the general colour, from pale fawn through greenish-brown, to dull or bright green, and sometimes the markings are tinged with reddish (h.e.l.lins).

It feeds on bedstraw, in June and July, and a second brood occurs in September. The figure of the brownish, inclining to reddish, chrysalis (Plate 79, Fig. 4), is from a photo by Mr. H. Main, and is twice the natural size.

The moth is out in May and June, and, in the South especially, again in August and September. It is generally distributed over the British Islands, but so far has not been noted from the Shetlands.

The range abroad extends to Eastern Siberia and Amurland.

According to Prout, the earliest name for this species is _alternata_ (Muller).

SMALL ARGENT AND SABLE (_Xanthorhoe_ (_Epirrhoe_) _tristata_).

On Plate 81 are shown three examples of this variable species. Fig. 10 represents the typical form from N. Devon. Fig. 11 is a black-marked specimen from Yorkshire, and Fig. 12 depicts a smoky-brown marked specimen from Clydesdale, in which the ground colour has a brownish tinge. All these have the central band more or less entire, but this character may be broader or narrower, and is sometimes divided into two parts, and these reduced to very small proportions; the white projections into {199} the outer marginal border of all the wings is not infrequently enlarged, in some cases so much so that the borders are separated into two parts, and also reduced in width.

The caterpillar is grey brown, ochreous brown between the rings and on the underside; a dark line along the back, and a dark-edged, pale line on each side; a black dot on each ring at the junction of the dark upper and pale lower areas; head, grey-brown, with blackish freckles. It feeds, in July and August, on bedstraw, preferring the heath kind (_Galium saxatile_), but will eat the large hedge kind (_G. mollugo_).

The moth is out in June, or from late May, and in some parts specimens are seen in August. Its haunts are moors and upland heaths, and its British distribution extends from Dartmoor and Exmoor, in Devon, through Western England and Wales to Westmorland. It appears to be very local in Somerset, Gloucester, Hereford, Shropshire, and Cheshire; from Staffordshire and Derbyshire northwards, and through Scotland, it becomes more plentiful; and has been recorded from the Shetlands. In Ireland it is local, but common where it occurs.

SHARP-ANGLED CARPET (_Xanthorhoe_ (_Euphyia_) _unangulata_).

This species (Plate 82, Figs. 1, 2) may be recognized by the distinctly angled outer edge of the blackish central band, which is thrown into strong relief by the usually broad white stripe following it. Wilkes, who figured the moth in 1742, called it the "White Stripe." By some authors the species is referred to _amniculata_, Hubner.

The caterpillar is pale whity brown, with a slightly darker but indistinct line along the centre of the back, and a black spot on the middle rings; a pale line on the sides is edged with dark grey; head, brown, marked with black. It feeds, in July and early August, on chickweed (_Stellaria media_).

The moth, which is partial to hedges and easily disturbed {200} therefrom, is out in June and July, and even later in some seasons. The earliest hatched caterpillars reared in confinement sometimes attain the moth state in August of the same year. Although certainly local, the species has a wide distribution in the southern half of England, and is not uncommon in some localities. Its range extends into Wales, and also northwards to c.u.mberland and Westmorland, but it is generally very much scarcer in the north than in the south. In Ireland it is known to occur locally in counties Antrim, Tyrone, Fermanagh, Waterford, Kerry, and Galway, but, as a rule, only sparingly.

Abroad, the distribution includes North Amurland and North America.

CLOAKED CARPET (_Euphyia picata_).

An older English name for this species (Plate 82, Figs. 4, 5) is "The Short Cloak Carpet," Harris (1782), but that given to it by Haworth is here adopted. It is also the _biangulata_ of Haworth, Stephens, and others.

As will be observed on referring to the figures, the outer edge of the blackish central band of the fore wings is twice angled just above the middle; the basal area and the outer marginal border are dark greyish brown, more or less tinged with olive; the whitish ground colour only shows distinctly as a strip immediately beyond the central band, and from this an irregular streak runs to the tips of the wings; some white wavy cross-lines through the outer border are often obscure.

The stoutish caterpillar is yellowish brown, or sometimes reddish brown; there is a series of blackish or dark-brown spots along the back, and a stripe of dusky freckles along each side; lower down are two slender wavy lines enclosing a dusky stripe; head, yellowish-brown mottled with darker brown. It feeds, at night, on chickweed and other kinds of _Stellaria_, in {201} August and September. One of the mouse-ear chickweeds (_Cerastium glomeratum_) has also been mentioned as a food plant, and for rearing the caterpillars this would perhaps be useful, as common chickweed, unless in a growing state, is difficult to keep in a suitable condition for larval requirements.

The moth, which is partial to a hedgerow as a hiding-place, is out in June and July, and may be sometimes reared as a second generation in September.

The species is somewhat local, but it is not scarce in many parts of England; its range does not appear to extend northwards beyond Worcestershire on the western side, although it has been recorded from North Wales; on the eastern side it is found up to Norfolk.

THE ARGENT AND SABLE (_Eulype hastata_).

About one hundred and sixty years ago Wilkes figured this species as "The Mottled Beauty," but Harris in 1778 gave it its present English name. On Plate 82 are shown two examples of the typical form (Figs. 7, 8), also two specimens of the small form (Figs. 10, 11), var. _subhastata_, Nolcken (= _hastulata_, Hubner); the latter form in Britain occurs chiefly in Sutherlandshire and the Isle of Lewis. As regards variation there is, in the small form, a tendency to an increase of black; whilst in the typical form there is a considerable reduction of the black marking--so much so occasionally that of the central black band only a few dots remain around the discal spot, and perhaps a speck or two below it, and a dot or two on the inner margin (ab. _demolita_, Prout).

The rather stumpy caterpillar is dark olive-green, inclining to blackish, and somewhat shiny; the skin along the sides puckered and marked with ochreous; a black line along the middle of the back; head, black and glossy. It feeds, in July and August, later in the north, on birch, _Vaccinium_, chiefly {202} _uliginosum_, and sweet gale (_Myrica_). It spins together the leaves at the tips of the twigs, and so forms a coc.o.o.n-like habitation. The moth is out in May and June, and even July in the north. It flies in the afternoon sunshine around and over birch trees, and occasionally alights on the leaves. It has been taken in Kent, and more frequently in Ess.e.x and Suffolk, but it is more plentiful in Oxfordshire and Berkshire, and from Surrey to Dorsetshire and Wiltshire; also in Herefordshire and Worcestershire, and on high ground in North Wales, Staffordshire, and Derbyshire; its range extending through Cheshire and Lancashire to c.u.mberland and Northumberland, but only odd specimens have been reported from the last-named county and from Durham. The egg and the caterpillar are shown on Plate 79, Figs. 1 and 1a.