Volume I Part 22 (1/2)
Occasionally all the wings have a smoky tinge. The moth is shown on Plate 95, Figs. 3, 6, and the caterpillar and chrysalis on Plate 94, Fig. 2.
[Ill.u.s.tration]
Pl. 94.
1. CRIMSON SPECKLED FOOTMAN: _caterpillar_.
2, 2a. MUSLIN MOTH: _caterpillar and chrysalis in coc.o.o.n_.
3, 3a. FOUR-SPOTTED FOOTMAN: _caterpillar and chrysalis_.
[Ill.u.s.tration]
Pl. 95.
1. ROUND-WINGED MUSLIN MOTH, _male_; 4 _female_.
2, 5. ROSY FOOTMAN.
3. MUSLIN FOOTMAN, _male_; 6 _female_.
7. DEW MOTH, _male_; 9 _female_.
8. FOUR-DOTTED FOOTMAN, _male_; 10 _female_.
11. FOUR-SPOTTED FOOTMAN, _male_; 12 _female_.
{175} The caterpillar is greyish, with a broad whitish or yellowish stripe along the back, divided down the centre and edged by blackish lines; a velvety black mark on ring seven; raised warts and hairs dark greyish. Head black, s.h.i.+ning; face yellowish. It may be found in April and May, after hibernation, on rocks, stone walls, especially those formed of loose cobbles or shale, trees, bushes, and even gate posts. I have beaten them from an old hawthorn hedge bordering a damp meadow in Middles.e.x, and collected them in numbers from the hollows of field boundary walls in North Devon. They feed on the tiny lichen that grows in such places as those indicated. The green, or yellowish-green chrysalis, is enclosed in a rather loose muslin-like silken coc.o.o.n, and is not difficult to obtain, especially from walls. It appears to be pretty generally distributed throughout England and Wales, except perhaps the midland and eastern counties; it occurs in the east and west of Scotland. In Ireland it is common, and often abundant, locally.
Distribution: Northern and Central Europe.
THE ROUND-WINGED MUSLIN (_Comacla senex_).
As indicated by the English name given to it by Haworth, the wings of this moth are rounder in outline than those of the Muslin, also named by Haworth. In general colour it agrees with that species, but it differs in having a larger central dot, and the cross lines are represented by blackish dots which, however, are not always well defined (Plate 95, Figs.
1, 4).
The caterpillar, as described by Buckler, is deep reddish-grey, thickly covered with hairs which are of two kinds; the majority are pale brown with black points and slightly feathered, others are longer, black, and densely feathered with soft pale-brown {176} plumage. Head black and s.h.i.+ning. It feeds in August and, after hibernation, in May on lichens and mosses growing on the ground in marshes and fens. It is known to eat _Peltigera canina_, and the mosses _Hypnum sericeum_, and _Weissia serrata_. Although occurring, in July and August, in marshy places in several parts of Southern England and Wales, it is especially common in fen land. In such localities as Wicken, for example, it flies at early dusk in hundreds all over the fen on favourable nights, but if there happens to be a breeze the moths will not leave their retreat among the herbage. Later on in the night, if on the wing, they readily a.s.semble around a brightly burning lamp, and are satisfied to sit on the herbage illuminated by its rays. In Northern England it is known to be not uncommon in some districts of Yorks.h.i.+re, and it probably occurs in other counties also. There appears to be only a single record each from Ireland and Scotland.
THE ROSY FOOTMAN (_Miltochrista miniata_).
The fore wings of this pretty little moth are ochreous yellow tinged with pink; the front and hind margins are bright pink, in some cases approaching vermillion; the markings are bluish black; hind wings rather paler. It varies in the amount of black markings, which are sometimes almost absent, and in colour ranges from yellow to orange. (Plate 95, Figs. 2, 5.)
The caterpillar is dark drab covered above with blackish, mouse-coloured plumed hairs; on rings one and eleven the plumose hairs are replaced by short simple ones; the hairs of the side tufts are plain. Head brown, the cheeks outlined in black (adapted from h.e.l.lins). Lichens growing upon the stems and branches of trees supply this caterpillar with food, and it seems to nibble on all favourable opportunities throughout the winter. It hatches from the egg in August, and is full grown in May. Boden, writing in September, 1896 (_The Entomologist_) noted that some caterpillars had then attained the perfect state, while others were still feeding, and he adds that the caterpillars actually attacked and ate up the moths. Although there seems to be few records from the Midlands, this species appears to be widely distributed over England as far north as Yorks.h.i.+re. In Ireland it has been recorded from Claring Bridge and East Galway. The moth is out in July. It is a wood-loving insect, but is also found on heaths, and even in lanes and the borders of fields when plenty of trees occur in such places.
It may occasionally be beaten out of trees and bushes in the day time but it is on the wing at dusk, and although it is a high flier, specimens come within reach now and then. Light and sugar both attract it. The species ranges through Central and Northern Europe, and in Asia to j.a.pan.
[Ill.u.s.tration]
Pl. 96.
1, 1a, 1b. BUFF FOOTMAN: _caterpillar, chrysalis and coc.o.o.n_.
2. COMMON FOOTMAN: _caterpillar_.
3. SCARCE FOOTMAN: _caterpillar_.
[Ill.u.s.tration]
Pl. 97.
1. BUFF FOOTMAN, _male_; 2, 3 _females_.