Volume I Part 1 (1/2)

The Moths of the British Isles.

by Richard South.

PREFACE.

Compared with our b.u.t.terflies, the number of moths found in the British Isles is very large. Like the b.u.t.terflies, moths too are dependent upon plant life, and almost every kind of herb, bush, or tree, will be found to nourish the caterpillars of one or more species of moth.

Not only the field botanist, but every rambler in the country must constantly come across moths or caterpillars that will probably interest him, and of which he would be glad to learn something about their habits, life-history, and the position they occupy in the arrangement and cla.s.sification of Natural History objects.

In the preparation of this little book on our moths, the author has proceeded closely on the lines adopted when dealing with the b.u.t.terflies in his previous volume. That is, the chief aim has been to place before the nature lovers as much information concerning these creatures as could be condensed into moderate limits.

Lengthy descriptions were out of the question, but what might be considered an omission in this way, is amply compensated for by the life-like portraits of typical examples of the moths themselves, and in many cases of their more important varieties. Technicalities have been avoided as far as possible, the main object being to provide a guide to the identification of our moths, together with a simple account of the whole or a part of their earlier stages.

The author is fully aware that this method of treatment only enables him to touch the fringe of the subject, as it were, but he has been content to deal with it in this way, as it appeared to be the kind of information that would most nearly meet the requirements of the majority.

The author desires here to express his thanks to Mr. Robert Adkin, F.E.S., for the loan of specimens of _L. coenosa_, _E. ilicifolia_, _D. harpagula_, _N. albula_, _N. centonalis_, _D. barrettii_, _D. caesia_, _P. xanthomista_, _T. extrema_, _L. favicolor_, _L. vitellina_, and _H. pal.u.s.tris_. To Mr.

Alfred Sich, F.E.S., for the use of drawings of the caterpillars of _D.

tiliae_, _S. f.a.gi_, _L. bicoloria_, _P. ridens_, _A. auricoma_, _A.

rumicis_, _A. aceris_, _N. brunnea_, _M. oleracea_, _A. tragopogonis_, _T.

gothica_, and _T. incerta_. To Mr. H. L. Sich for the loan of drawings of the caterpillars of _D. euphorbiae_, _D. galii_, _D. chaonia_, and _P.

dictoea_. For the material figured on Plate 148, except the larva of _L.

putrescens_, kindly sent by Mr. Walker, of Torquay, he is indebted to Mr.

H. M. Edelsten, F.E.S.

Except where otherwise mentioned, the ill.u.s.trations of moths and caterpillars at rest are from photographs by ”A Forester.”

To Mr. Horace Knight he is very greatly obliged for the care bestowed upon the drawings of ova, larvae, and pupae, the bulk of which were made from living examples; also the coloured drawings for Plates 1, 45, 63, 68, 73, 75, 80, 84, 90, 108, 119, 123, 140, 146, 149, and 153. The only figures copied from any previous publication are those of the caterpillars of _S.

fuliginosa_, _D. sanio_, _D. pulch.e.l.la_, _A. corticea_, _A. strigula_, _N.

plecta_, and _N. augur_ (Wilson's ”Larvae Brit. Lep.”); and among the moths, the varieties of _A. caia_; _D. mendica_ (4 Yorks.), Trans. Ent. Soc.

Lond., 1889; _S. walkeri_, Curtis, and _N. subrosea_, Stephens.

RICHARD SOUTH.

THE MOTHS OF THE BRITISH ISLES.

PART I.

INTRODUCTORY.

As mentioned in ”b.u.t.terflies of the British Isles,” there is, speaking generally, no clear line of division between moths and b.u.t.terflies, and, as Dr. Sharp, in ”Insects,” puts the case, ”the only definition that can be given of Heterocera [moths] is the practical one that all Lepidoptera that are not b.u.t.terflies are Heterocera.” Now, it happens that all the b.u.t.terflies occurring in these islands have the tips of the horns (_antennae_) clubbed; and, although there is much variety in the structure of the horns of our moths, none of them have the tips k.n.o.bbed.

Like the b.u.t.terflies, moths pa.s.s through the stages of egg, caterpillar, and chrysalis before they attain the perfect state (_imago_), and the duration of the several stages is just as variable. The majority a.s.sume the moth condition but once in the year, but some species have two, or even three, generations in the twelve months, whilst others occupy twenty-four months in completing the life cycle. In one or two species the chrysalis stage may last four, five, or even six years.

Diversity of form and structure is considerable in the early stages as well as in the perfect insects, and this is shown in the {2} selection of life-history details figured on the black and white plates in this volume.