The Moths of the British Isles Volume Ii Part 42

Somewhat similar to the last species, but sprinkled with ochreous grey; the fore wings have three greyish cross lines, the first two less regular than those of _pusaria_, and the outer one distinctly curved; variation in the lines is pretty much the same as in _pusaria_ and its small form ab.

_rotundaria_. Of the form showing the first and second lines more or less confluent, I have seven examples reared from collected caterpillars; six are undersized, but the other is of quite ordinary size (ab. _approximata_, Haworth); another specimen, also bred, is thinly {268} powdered with ochreous grey, and the lines are very indistinct. The more usual forms are shown on Plate 107, Figs. 13, 14.

The caterpillar is green, inclining to yellowish or to brownish; some purplish-red marks and white-edged black spots on the back; the ring divisions are yellow, and there are reddish-brown or purplish-red marks on the sides; the markings vary. It feeds on birch, alder, and sallow, and may be beaten out at any time from July to September. The moth is out through the summer from May; its range in the British Isles is very similar to that of the last species, but it seems to have a preference for moist places.

The distribution abroad extends eastward to Amurland, and a form known as ab. _schaefferi_, Bremer, occurs in the last-named country, and also in Corea and j.a.pan.

BARRED UMBER (_Numeria pulveraria_).

Pale ochreous or reddish brown freckled with darker; the central dark reddish brown band is sometimes much narrowed below the middle; sometimes only the edges of the band are dark, the enclosed s.p.a.ce being but little darker than the ground colour, or occasionally tinged with greenish; one example of the latter and two of the former were reared this year (1908) from larvae received in July, 1907, from Mr. F. Pope of Exeter; a male specimen bred from the same batch of larvae, but which emerged in August of the year last mentioned, is distinctly tinged with rosy over all the wings; the narrow band on the hind wings, not usually extended to the front edge, is in this specimen entire, whilst the greenish-banded specimen referred to above is without trace of a band on the hind wings. Two examples which are without locality, but which, I believe, came from the New Forest, have pale greyish-brown fore wings banded with brown in which there is a tinge of olive. Two examples of the male are figured on Plate 108. The eggs (Plate {269} 106, Fig. 2a) were pale greenish yellow when laid, May 17 to 20; the larvae hatched out from May 31 to June 2.

The caterpillar, which is also depicted on the plate, is reddish brown, mottled with yellowish brown. It feeds on birch, sallow, ash, etc., from June to August.

The moth, as a rule, does not emerge until the following spring, but sometimes specimens will come out the same year.

Although widely distributed over nearly the whole of the British Isles, the species seems to be rarely met with in large numbers. The range abroad extends to Amurland, Corea, and j.a.pan.

BARRED RED (_Ellopia_ (_Hylaea_) _prosapiaria_).

The typical form of this species is depicted on Plate 108, Figs. 4 [male], 5 [female], and Fig. 3 on the same plate represents ab. _prasinaria_, Hubner, a form not uncommon in Germany (whence came the example figured), Switzerland, and other parts of the continent, but which is very rare in Britain, and has been recorded from Kent and Suffolk. Sometimes, but chiefly in Scotland, the colour varies to a greyish or even yellowish tint; the cross lines are often parallel or nearly so, and frequently approach each other about the middle; the usual white edging to the cross lines is occasionally absent, and the enclosed s.p.a.ce in such specimens is hardly darker than the general colour.

On Plate 106, Fig. 1, will be found a figure of the caterpillar, which is tawny brown with white-edged, connected reddish marks along the back. It feeds, from September to May, on Scots pine (_Pinus sylvestris_), and occasionally on larch. The moth is out in June and July, and sometimes in September. It may be jarred from the pine boughs, and is not infrequently seen resting on foliage of the undergrowth. Generally distributed in fir-woods throughout Great Britain, and widely spread in Ireland.

The range abroad extends to East Siberia. {270}

THE LIGHT EMERALD (_Metrocampa_ (_Eudalimia_) _margaritaria_).

When quite fresh, this species (Plate 108, Fig. 6) is of a delicate whitish-green colour, but the green tint is apt to fade or to change colour, so that the wings are almost ochreous white sometimes.

The eggs shown on Plate 106, Fig. 3, were kindly supplied by Mr. Norman Riley.

The caterpillar ranges in colour from greenish brown to purplish brown, and is frequently freckled with a darker shade of the general colour; there is sometimes a pale patch on rings 6 and 7, and the sides are fringed with fine bristles along the spiracle area. It feeds, from September to May, on the leaves of oak, birch, beech, elm, etc., and during the winter will nibble the bark of the younger twigs, and also eat the buds.

The moth, which is partial to the woodlands, is out in June and July, and is pretty generally distributed over the British Isles, except the Hebrides, Orkneys, and Shetlands.

LARGE THORN (_Ennomos autumnaria_).

This fine species was first definitely ascertained to occur in Britain in 1855, but it had been reported as British at a much earlier date, and was figured by Wood in 1839. Up to 1859 it had only been recorded from the North Foreland and Margate in Kent, and from Brighton, Suss.e.x. In 1862, a specimen was taken at Brighton and one at Deal, the latter a female. Two examples were secured at Gosport, Hamps.h.i.+re, in 1865, and one at Deal in 1867. Then, after an interval of ten years, three were captured in Hants (Alverstoke), and two years later a round dozen were obtained at Gosport.

During the last thirty years specimens have been recorded from Margate, Deal, Dover, Folkestone, Hythe, and Ashford (1907), in Kent, from Chichester, Suss.e.x, and from s...o...b..ryness, Ess.e.x (1898). It has been reared on several occasions from eggs obtained from captured females, and is still more frequently bred from eggs deposited by the descendants of wild parents.

[Ill.u.s.tration]

2 Pl. 108.

1, 2. BARRED UMBER.

3. BARRED RED (GREEN VAR.).

4, 5. BARRED RED.

6. LIGHT EMERALD.

[Ill.u.s.tration]

2 Pl. 109.

1, 3. LARGE THORN.

2, 4, 5. AUGUST THORN.

{271} The eggs are deep olive, with a white ring at one end; and the caterpillar is brownish in colour, rather s.h.i.+ning, and very twig-like. It feeds on birch, alder, hawthorn, sloe, plum, etc., and has been found on sycamore and cherry; May to August. The early stages are figured on Plate 106, Figs. 1, 1a. The moth (Plate 109, Figs. 1 [male], 3 [female]), which varies in colour from pale to deep ochreous yellow, and also in the amount of purplish brown freckling, usually has the upper part of the outer marginal area some shade of tawny brown. Specimens of a greyish chocolate tint have recently been reared by Mr. Newman, of Bexley (Plate 134, Fig.

9). Most of the specimens captured in England have been obtained at light in the autumn. The range abroad extends to Amurland, j.a.pan, and North America.

AUGUST THORN (_Ennomos quercinaria_).

The male (Plate 109, Fig. 2) is generally yellower than the female (Fig.

4), and it is in the former s.e.x that brownish or red-brown clouding on the outer area beyond the second cross line appears most frequently, but it occurs also in the female (Plate 109, Fig. 5). Sometimes the wings are partly or entirely dull reddish brown. Two other examples of the type form showing modification of the cross lines will be found on Plate 111, Figs. 5 [male], 6 [female]. In ab. _carpinaria_, Hubner, the wings are of a reddish ochreous colour. A hybrid resulting from a crossing of _E. alniaria_ [male]

and _E. quercinaria_ [female] has been named _dartfordi_, Tutt.

The caterpillar (Plate 113, Fig. 3) is generally grey brown, mottled with reddish or olive; but, according to Fenn, it is {272} sometimes greenish, without humps or projections. It feeds, in the summer, on lime, birch, oak, hawthorn, etc. A chrysalis which I took out of its puparium (two leaves spun together with silk) on July 9, 1907, was green, with the upper surface tinged with yellowish; a dark-green central line, and a series of dark-green irregular marks on each side; the tail pointed and furnished with reddish hooks.

The moth is out in August and September, and may often be seen sitting on the boles of trees, generally low down. The species is widely distributed over England, but is much more frequent in the south than in the north. It has been recorded from Swansea in Wales; from Dumfries, Dunoon, and Monteith, in Scotland; and from near Derry, Hazlewood (Sligo), Mote Park (Roscommon), and Clonbrock (Galway), in Ireland.

CANARY-SHOULDERED THORN (_Ennomos alniaria_).

This species (Plate 111, Figs. 1, 2) is generally easily recognised by the canary yellow coloured hairs of the thorax. The fore wings are yellowish, sprinkled with purplish grey, and crossed by two curved greyish-brown lines, which not infrequently fall close together on the inner margin. In some female specimens that I reared from eggs, received from York, the wings are more or less tinged with dull tawny brown, especially on the outer area, and in two of them the thorax is also brownish tinged.

The at first green, and afterwards blackish slate-coloured, egg, with whitish ring, and the caterpillar are shown on Plate 110, Fig. 2, 2a. The latter is brownish, mottled with purplish above, and inclining to greenish below; head, rather paler brown. It feeds, from May to July, on birch, alder, etc. The moth is out in the autumn, and occurs in suitable woodland and marshy places over England, Wales, and Scotland to Moray. It has been found in many parts of Ireland.

[Ill.u.s.tration]

2 Pl. 110.

1, 1a, 1b, 1c. LARGE THORN: _eggs, natural size and enlarged; caterpillar, chrysalis and puparium_.

2, 2a. CANARY-SHOULDERED THORN: _eggs, natural size and enlarged, and caterpillar_.

3, 3a. DUSKY THORN: _caterpillar and chrysalis_.

[Ill.u.s.tration]

2 Pl. 111.

1, 2. CANARY-SHOULDERED THORN.

3, 4. DUSKY THORN.

5, 6. AUGUST THORN.

{273}

DUSKY THORN (_Ennomos fuscantaria_).

Figs. 3 [male], 4 [female], Plate 111, represent the usual form of this species; in some specimens the outer marginal pale purplish-brown shading spreads inwards over the fore wings to the base; in other examples it is only seen on the upper part of the outer area.

The caterpillar (Plate 110, Fig. 3) is green, pretty much of the same tint as the underside of the ash leaf upon which, and the stalks, it rests by day. In some examples the general colour inclines to pale brown, or reddish brown. It may be found during the summer, and where the leaves are seen to have neat round holes in them, these should be examined, when this caterpillar will probably be found somewhere adjacent. Ash (_Fraxinus excelsior_) is the usual food, but possibly privet might answer as a subst.i.tute. The moth is out in August and September, and occurs in most parts of Southern England where the ash flourishes; its range extends into South Wales, and northwards to Durham and Northumberland. Only doubtfully recorded from Ireland, and apparently unknown in Scotland.

SEPTEMBER THORN (_Ennomos erosaria_).

This species, shown on Plate 134, Fig. 6, varies in ground colour from pale ochreous to pale fulvous; the cross lines approach towards the inner margin, and sometimes the second line is bent inwards below the middle. The central spot is generally absent, and when present is exceedingly faint.

The twig-like caterpillar is brownish, with a greenish or purplish tinge.