The Moths of the British Isles Volume Ii Part 39

The long, thin, caterpillar, which feeds on ling or heather in the autumn, is whitish with a greenish tinge: the sides are marked with red, and there are some reddish spots on the back.

On almost all heather-clad ground throughout the British Isles, this pretty little moth will be found, more or less commonly, during the months of May and early June, and sometimes there is a second flight in July and August.

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BRINDLED PUG (_Eupithecia abbreviata_).

The ochreous grey fore wings of this species (Plate 99, Fig. 3) are crossed by dark, bent lines, and marked with black on the veins; the central area is sometimes whitish, and generally paler than the ground colour.

Caterpillar, slender, ochreous brown in colour, with browner lines and redder V-shaped marks on the back. It feeds on oak, in June and July. The moth is not uncommon in oak woods, in April and May, and may be beaten from the boughs in the daytime, and not infrequently found resting on the trunks. Generally distributed, but in Scotland not noted north of Perths.h.i.+re.

OAK-TREE PUG (_Eupithecia dodoneata_).

This species (Plate 99, Fig. 5) differs from the last in being smaller, paler in colour, more distinctly marked, and with a rather larger and more conspicuous discal spot.

The caterpillar feeds, in June and July, on young leaves of oak, the flowers of the evergreen oak (_Quercus ilex_), and hawthorn. It is orange, or ochreous red, with blackish marks connected by a line of the same colour along the back, and yellowish stripes and lines on the sides.

The moth is out in May and early June, and occurs in some of the woods in most of the southern counties of England, and on the west to Worcesters.h.i.+re. It has been recorded from Yorks. and c.u.mberland; from Glamorgans.h.i.+re, South Wales; and from counties Armagh, Dublin, Wicklow, and Sligo, in Ireland.

MOTTLED PUG (_Eupithecia exiguata_).

In some respects this species (Plate 99, Fig. 4) is not unlike _E.

abbreviata_, but the general colour of the fore wings is pale grey inclining to brownish; a good character is the blackish {249} band before the submarginal line, which is interrupted by patches of the ground colour, one above, and the other below, the middle; the submarginal line is whitish towards the inner margin.

Caterpillar, long and thin; dark green; a series of yellow dotted reddish marks on the back, and a yellow-edged reddish line low down along the sides. It feeds, in the autumn, on hawthorn, sloe, currant, sallow, ash, etc.

The moth is out in May and June, and is sometimes seen at rest on the stems and branches of trees, fences, etc., and may be beaten out of hedgerows.

Widely distributed throughout England, Wales, Scotland to Perths.h.i.+re, and Ireland.

JUNIPER PUG (_Eupithecia sobrinata_).

Two specimens are shown on Plate 99: Fig. 6 represents a more or less typical example from the Surrey downs, and Fig. 7 a pale form from Forres in Scotland. The species varies in tint of ground colour, and in the strength of marking, in all its localities; but in Scotland there is a greater tendency to pale forms than in England. Mr. H. McArthur, during the present year, obtained an extensive and most variable series from heather, at Aviemore, in Inverness. A pale-brownish tinged white pug found in Kent and the Isle of Wight, at one time referred to _E. ultimaria_, Boisduval, and afterwards known as _stevensata_, Webb, is really, according to Prout, _anglicata_, Herrich-Schaeffer. Whether this is a form of the present species or specifically distinct is still left in doubt, but personally I believe it to be a variety.

The dark-green, sometimes reddish marked, caterpillars may be beaten from juniper bushes, from April to early June. The moth is out from late July to early October, and may be found {250} in nearly all parts of the British Isles where the food plant occurs, and occasionally in localities from which juniper appears to be absent.

DOUBLE-STRIPED PUG (_Gymnoscelis_ (_Eupithecia_) _pumilata_).

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 5.

DOUBLE-STRIPED PUG, AT REST.

(Photo by W. J. Lucas.)]

This species varies a good deal in the tint of the ground colour and the cross markings. Three forms are depicted on Plate 99: Fig. 8 is a typical male, and Fig. 9 shows a female with distinct red bands (ab.

_rufifasciata_, Haworth); both specimens are from Surrey. The greyish example without red markings (Fig. 10) is from Ireland, and approaches ab.

_tempestivata_, Zeller, in form.

The caterpillar ranges in colour from yellowish-green to reddish; on the back there is a dark-green or blackish line, and often a series of marks of the same colour; the lines on the sides are yellowish. It feeds chiefly in or on the flowers of furze, broom, holly, clematis, hawthorn, etc., from May to September. There are certainly two broods, possibly more. The specimens of the first, or spring, generation are usually larger in size and more strongly marked than those of the summer brood.

The moth is most frequent, perhaps, in April, May, July, and August, but it may be met with in either of the months from April to November. Pretty generally distributed over the British Isles, including the Hebrides and the Orkneys. {251}

CLOAKED PUG (_Eucymatoge togata_).

Over sixty years ago, this fine pug (Plate 99, Figs. 11 and 12) was detected in England. It was first noted in a plantation of spruce fir at Black Park, Buckinghams.h.i.+re, in mid-June, 1845, and for many years this was the only known British locality. At the present time it is obtained more or less regularly in the New Forest, and has been recorded, chiefly in single specimens, from Wilts.h.i.+re, Ess.e.x, Cambridges.h.i.+re, Suffolk, Yorks.h.i.+re, and Durham. It is not uncommon in Scotland up to Inverness, but is most plentiful in Perths.h.i.+re.

Kane (_Catalogue of the Lepidoptera of Ireland_) states that it is spreading over an extensive area in Ireland, as a result of the planting of spruce fir.

The caterpillar, which feeds in the spruce cones, and eats the immature seeds, is dingy white with a pinkish tinge, and suffused with blackish above; the lines along the back and sides, when present, are whitish but not distinct; head, and raised dots on the body, black; a brown plate on the first ring: July and August. Cones containing caterpillars may be secured by visiting a known locality for the species towards the end of August, especially immediately after a gale.

The moth may be dislodged from its resting place among the branches of the spruce in June, sometimes earlier or later.

V-PUG (_Chloroclystis coronata_).

This is "_Phalaena_" _v-ata_, Haworth, and also the V-Pug of that author. A later English name for the species is "The Coronet Pug," an Anglicism for the Latin specific name, and has reference to the black upper part of the outer cross line which is twice angled and bears a fanciful resemblance to a {252} coronet; the lower angle is, however, most distinct, therefore Haworth's English name seems most suitable as it indicates the V-mark, which is a noticeable character of this delicate green species. (Plate 100, Fig. 1.)

The caterpillar is yellowish green, with three reddish lines along the back, the central one most distinct and sometimes forming triangular marks, or lozenges. The ground colour varies, and may be greener, yellower, or occasionally greyish; and the markings are not always present.

There are two generations, the first in June and July, and the second in the autumn, and in confinement a third brood is sometimes obtained. The blossoms of various plants are eaten, but those of hemp-agrimony (_Eupatorium cannabinum_), golden-rod (_Solidago_), clematis, and purple loosestrife (_Lythrum salicaria_), are perhaps favourites. Hawthorn and bramble have also been mentioned as food plants.

The moth is out in most of the months from May to August, but seems to be most frequent in the first named.

Generally distributed in the southern half of England, extending into South Wales, rare in Yorks.h.i.+re and in Roxburghs.h.i.+re, Scotland. Widely distributed in Ireland. The range abroad extends to j.a.pan.

GREEN PUG (_Chloroclystis rectangulata_).

Of this variable species five examples are shown on Plate 100. Figs. 2 and 3 represent the typical and more usual forms; 3 varies in the direction of ab. _subaerata_, Hubn., and Fig. 4 is the greyish ab. _cydoniata_, Bork.

Ab. _nigrosericeata_, Haworth (Fig. 6), is blackish with white submarginal line; and an intermediate form (Fig. 5) may be referable to ab.

_sericeata_, Haworth.

The stumpy caterpillar is of a pale yellow green colour, with {253} a more or less distinct reddish or dark-green line along the back, and reddish ring-divisions. It feeds in flowers of the wild apple or crab, and of apples and pears grown in orchards and gardens. It is found in April and May, and the moth is out in June and July.

The species is common throughout the greater part of England and Wales, and its range extends to Ross in Scotland. It has a wide distribution in Ireland.

BILBERRY PUG (_Chloroclystis debiliata_).

As a British insect, this species (Plate 100, Figs. 7 and 8) was first found in Devons.h.i.+re, and was then known by the English name of "The Devon Pug." As the yellowish green caterpillar, marked with a darker line along the back and a yellowish one low down on the sides, feeds on bilberry, in April and May, and is by no means confined to Devons.h.i.+re, the popular name here adopted is more suitable.

When quite fresh the moth, which is out in June and July, has a very delicate tinge of green, but this quickly fades out, leaving a pale greyish white insect. In the typical form (Fig. 7) the black central lines are fairly well defined, but in ab. _nigropunctata_, Chant (Fig. 8), the lines are represented by a series of dots.

The species is common in some of the sheltered hollows among the hills in Devon and Somerset, and I used to find it in abundance in the Martinhoe district, in the former county. The moths were rarely disturbed from the food plant during the day, but towards dusk they flew in numbers around small trees of mountain ash. Other counties in which it is known to occur are--England: Cornwall, Worcester, Staffords.h.i.+re, Leicester, and Lancas.h.i.+re (formerly on Chat Moss). Wales: Glamorgan and Pembroke. Scotland: Aberdeen.

Ireland: Wicklow, Waterford, Cork, Kerry, and Sligo. {254}

DENTATED PUG (_Collix sparsata_).

At one time this greyish brown species (Plate 102, Figs. 1, 2) was known by the English name of "Broom Scallop," but it is now usually referred to, in the vulgar tongue, as the Dentated Pug. The hind wings have their outer margins toothed rather than scalloped, and the insect has nothing to do with broom.

The rather long caterpillar is pale green, with four white lines along the back, and one on each side; a whitish stripe along the black spiracles.

Head, pale brown, rather flat above. (Adapted from Porritt.) It feeds on the yellow loosestrife (_Lysimachia vulgaris_), in July and August, or even later. Fens and marshy woodlands are the haunts of the moth, which is out in June and early July. It hides among the coa.r.s.er vegetation, and is not always easily disturbed therefrom; neither is it often noticed when on the wing at night, although it is sometimes found at the flowers of buckthorn.