The Moths of the British Isles Volume Ii Part 34

This pale ochreous brown species (Plate 91) is in the male (Fig. 1) more or less sprinkled and shaded with darker brown, and the three brown cross lines are consequently often obscure, and rarely as distinct as in the female (Fig. 3).

The green caterpillar has a yellow line running down the middle of a black stripe along the back, and this stripe is {220} bordered on each side with yellow, and broken up by the yellow ring divisions; head, with a black spot on each side. It feeds, in July and August, on alder.

The moth is out in June and early July, and will be found in almost every locality in England where the alder flourishes, most plentifully, perhaps, on the eastern and western sides. It has been recorded from North and South Wales, but it does not seem to have been noted from Ireland or Scotland.

The range abroad extends to Amurland and j.a.pan.

SMALL WHITE WAVE (_Asthena candidata_).

The delicately lined white moth shown on Plate 91, Figs. 5 [male] and 6 [female], is chiefly a woodland species. It is generally common in the south of England, occurs more or less frequently throughout the northern half, and is widely distributed in Wales. In Scotland, it is said to be locally common in Clydesdale, and to be found in Arran and in Perths.h.i.+re.

It is plentiful at Dromoland, co. Clare, Ireland, not uncommon in parts of Galway, and once recorded from Wicklow.

The caterpillar is found, in July and August, on birch, hazel, and wild rose. In general colour it is green, inclining to bluish at each end, and tinged with yellowish along the ridge on the sides; the back is marked with crimson. (Plate 90, Fig. 2, after Hofmann.)

The moth is out in May and June, and sometimes July, and individuals of a second generation occasionally appear in August or September.

SMALL YELLOW WAVE (_Asthena luteata_).

This pretty little species (Plate 91, Figs. 2 and 4) has the pale yellowish wings marked with ochreous brown lines, which vary in thickness, and a dash of the same colour on the fore wings, from the central pair of lines to the middle of the outer margin.

[Ill.u.s.tration]

2 Pl. 92.

1. GREY PUG: _egg and caterpillar_.

2. LIME SPECK PUG: _caterpillars_.

3. COMMON PUG: _caterpillar_.

4. NETTED PUG: _caterpillar_.

5. WHITE-SPOTTED PUG: _caterpillar_.

6. CURRANT PUG: _caterpillar_.

7. BORDERED PUG: _chrysalids_.

[Ill.u.s.tration]

2 Pl. 93.

1, 4. LIME SPECK PUG.

2, 5, 8, 11. NETTED PUG.

7, 10. FOXGLOVE PUG.

3, 6. TOADFLAX PUG.

9. MARBLED PUG.

12. DWARF PUG.

{221} The caterpillar, which feeds in August and September, on maple, and in the northern counties on alder, is green, inclining to whitish between the rings.

The moth is out in June and early July, sometimes from mid May in warm localities. It is widely distributed over England and Wales, and in the southern counties of England it occurs in hedges wherever the maple grows, but in the midlands and northwards it is chiefly found among alder. In Scotland it is local and rare in Clydesdale, and is known to occur in Perths.h.i.+re.

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

WAVED CARPET (_Asthena testaceata_).

The typical, greyish-dusted, white form is depicted on Plate 91, Figs. 7 [male] and 9 [female]. Mr. E. R. Bankes states (_Entom._, xl. 33) that in one restricted area in mid-Kent this species varies in the direction of melanism, and he describes two forms as under: ab. _intermedia_ has the usual coloration, but the wings are thickly dusted with dusky brown, chiefly along the front edge of the fore wings, and the cross lines are more distinct than in the type. In ab. _goodwini_ all the wings have the whitish ground colour largely obscured by dusky brown powdering.

The rather spindle-shaped caterpillar is purplish brown, inclining to greenish on the sides and below at each end; on the back of the middle rings are whitish V-marks, and the last three rings incline to purplish red above (adapted from Fenn). It feeds on the young leaves of alder, birch, and sallow, in July and August. The moth is out in June, and hides by day among the bushes, but may be seen occasionally {222} on tree-trunks. Its haunts are in damp woods and plantations, and it occurs in most of the English and Welsh counties, although it is rarely common, except in the south of England. In Ireland it has been noted as scarce in counties Wicklow, Kerry, Galway, and Sligo.

The range abroad extends to Amurland and j.a.pan.

BLOMER'S RIVULET (_Asthena blomeri_).

The earliest British specimens of this species (Plate 91, Figs. 8 [male]

and 10 [female]) were taken in Castle Eden Dean, Durham, and among the first to detect these was Captain Blomer, after whom Curtis named the species in 1832. It is still found in that locality, but is also known to occur in c.u.mberland, Lancs., Yorks., Derby, Staffs., Merioneths.h.i.+re, Worcester, Hereford, Glamorgan, Gloucester, Somerset, Devon, Wilts., Oxford, and Bucks.

The slender caterpillar is yellowish green, generally marked with pinkish-brown on the back, but most or all such markings may be absent. It feeds, on wych elm (_Ulmus montana_) (Plate 90, Fig. 1), in August and September. The moth is out in June and July, earlier or later in some seasons. As a rule, it sits on the trunks of beech trees, but I have seen it on the stems of cherry and fir, though hardly ever on wych-elm.

Occasionally, newly emerged specimens have been noted on the leaves of dog's mercury (_Mercurialis perennis_).

The range abroad extends to Amurland and j.a.pan.

LIME-SPECK PUG (_Eupithecia oblongata_).

The characteristic features of this white, or greyish white, species (Plate 93, Figs. 1 and 4) is the bluish grey blotch on the front margin, in the lower end of which is the black discal {223} spot. Occasionally, the blotch is much reduced in size, but it is usually large, and sometimes there are indications of a dusky stripe from it to the inner margin.

When freshly laid, the egg is whitish, but changes to pale orange. The caterpillar (Plate 92, Figs. 2, 2a) is greenish, with more or less connected reddish marks on the back, or green inclining to yellowish, or bluish, without markings. It feeds through the summer on flowers of ragwort, knapweed, scabious, yarrow, golden rod, etc.

The moth, which is often common in gardens, is out from May to August, and specimens of a second brood occur in September and October.

It is widely distributed over the British Islands, but in Scotland it does not, apparently, extend north of Perths.h.i.+re.

FOXGLOVE PUG (_Eupithecia pulch.e.l.lata_).

The fore wings are pale ochreous brown with a dusky basal patch limited by a black line; a greyish central band inclining to blackish near the costa, and clouded with ochreous below the middle; the black-and-white edges are wavy; a reddish stripe across the wing before the central band, and a similar, but more irregular, one beyond the band. The hind wings are whitish grey, with several dark-grey bands (Plate 93, Figs. 7 [male], 10 [female]).

In var. _hebudium_, Sheldon, from the Hebrides, the usual reddish stripes are replaced by narrower dark-brown ones; the s.p.a.ce left by the reduction in width is white, giving the insect a decidedly grey appearance.

The caterpillar lives in the flowers of the foxglove (_Digitalis purpurea_) and feeds therein upon the stamens and the immature seeds. It enters by boring through the side walls, and then secures the longer lobe of the blossom to the shorter upper one with a few silken threads. Tenanted flowers have {224} a rather faded look and are easily detected. July is the best month, but the caterpillar may be found earlier as well as later.

The moth is out in May and June, and is found in almost every part of the British Isles where the foxglove is common.

TOADFLAX PUG (_Eupithecia linariata_).

Very similar to the last species, but generally smaller, neater and more glossy looking. The central band of the fore wing is blacker, without ochreous clouding below the middle, and the edges are not wavy. The hind wings are darker, and the only distinct band is a whitish one beyond the middle (Plate 93, Figs. 3, 6).

The caterpillar is yellowish green, with a series of dull olive or rust coloured spots or bars along the back, bordered on each side by a dusky olive line; in some examples the markings are absent (Crewe). It feeds in the flowers of yellow toadflax (_Linaria vulgaris_), and may be reared on flowers of the snapdragon (_Antirrhinum_). It is hardly necessary to examine each blossom separately to find the caterpillar, except, perhaps, to make sure when doubtful about the quarry being there. Probably, a handful of the flower sprays gathered in August or September in any locality in the southern half of England where the food plant abounds would furnish moths in the following May or June. The _Linaria_ should be secured on a dry day for choice, but when brought home it need not be put in water; just throw it into an airy breeding cage, and hopefully await emergence of the perfect insects in due course. Sometimes caterpillars attain the moth state the same year.

The range of the species in England extends to Durham, but it seems to be rather uncommon from the Midlands northwards. It is found in Wales, and has been recorded once from Scotland (Inverurie), and once from Ireland (Dublin). {225}

MARBLED PUG (_Eupithecia irriguata_).

The fore wings are whitish and rather s.h.i.+ning, the discal spot is black and very distinct, but the dark grey-brown markings, which are only well defined on the front and outer marginal areas, vary in intensity (Plate 93, Fig. 9).

The long, slender and roughened caterpillar is dull yellowish green; three lines along the back, the central one reddish and expanded on the middle rings, the others yellowish; head, reddish. It feeds on oak, in late May and in June. The moth is out in April and May, and is sometimes found on fences or palings in the neighbourhood of oak woods, but may be jarred from the oak boughs, on the undersides of which it usually sits.