Volume I Part 25 (1/2)
This little moth, known also as the ”Grisette,” seems confined, as a British species, to the country around Cambridge; but it has been twice recorded from Norfolk, two specimens have been reported from Worcesters.h.i.+re, and one from Gloucesters.h.i.+re; the latter at sugar in June, 1897. The latest records that I have seen refer to a moth taken at sugar near Chatteris {195} in 1904, two caterpillars beaten out of hawthorn in August, 1905, and a moth on an ash tree, Wicken, July 31, 1907. (Plate 100, Fig. 7).
The caterpillar is yellowish green, with a red brown stripe along the back; two small elevations on ring four, and one on ring eleven; the hairs are blackish on the back, one of each tuft longer than the others. It feeds on hawthorn in August and early September. The moth is out in July. This species is found abroad in Central Europe and Southern France; also in Amurland, Corea, and j.a.pan.
THE DARK DAGGER (_Acronycta tridens_).
The English name of this moth is not very suitable, as in general colour it is often really paler than many examples of the next species. Specimens with a blackish cloud at the base, and a dark band-like suffusion on the outer margin of the fore wings are referable to var. _virga_, Tutt. It is widely distributed in England and Wales, but apparently not common; rare in Scotland and in Ireland. I am unable to indicate any character that will serve to distinguish this moth from the Grey Dagger. The moth flies in June; a second brood sometimes occurs in confinement in October. The caterpillars of the two species are very distinct. That of the present species is black, with a broad reddish stripe along the back, and one on each side; the first is interrupted with white, and the others with black; there is a black hump on the fourth ring, and a broader one on the eleventh ring. It feeds from August to October on hawthorn, sloe, plum, pear, and apple; also on birch and sallow.
The moth is shown on Plate 100, Fig. 10; and the caterpillar on Plate 101, Fig. 4.
THE GREY DAGGER (_Acronycta psi_).
The ground colour varies from whitish to blackish grey, Var. _bivirgae_, Tutt, is similar to var. _virga_ of the last species. {196} In var.
_bidens_, Chapman, the first cross line is double, enclosing a pale stripe; the upper part of second cross line is more angled, and the dagger mark at the a.n.a.l angle is much shortened.
The caterpillar has a taller and more slender hump on ring four, and the stripe along the back is clear yellow, with black edged red spots on each side of it. Generally distributed, and often common.
The moth is shown on Plate 100, Fig. 11; and the caterpillar and chrysalis on Plate 101, Figs. 5 and 5a.
THE LIGHT KNOT GRa.s.s (_Acronycta menyanthidis_).
Portraits of this moth will be found on Plate 103, Figs. 1[male], 2[female]. Several modifications have been named, the most important of these are var. _scotica_, Tutt, which is larger and brighter than the type, with the markings clear and distinct; var. _suffusa_, Tutt, is much suffused with black. The former is chiefly found in Scotland, and the latter in Yorks.h.i.+re.
The caterpillar is black or sooty-brown, with a red stripe, or blotches, low down along the sides; hairs black or red-brown. In August and September feeding by day on sweet-gale or bog myrtle (_Myrica gale_), bilberry, heather, dwarf sallow, etc. The moth flies in June and July, and may be found on the mosses and moorlands of North England and Scotland. It rests by day on rocks, stones, and, where they are handy, on posts and rails. I found several on Danes Moss, Ches.h.i.+re, sitting on a derelict tub. Also occurring in Ireland, but not common.
THE SCARCE DAGGER (_Acronycta auricoma_).
The pale grey, darker-mottled moth depicted on Plate 103, Fig. 3, is very local, and only occurs in some of the woods of {197} Kent and Suss.e.x; the districts mentioned being those of Rochester, Canterbury, Hailsham, and Hastings.
The caterpillar is figured on Plate 102, Fig. 2. It is slaty grey in colour with a black plate on the first ring; on the back of each ring is a broad black band, and four orange warts from which arise golden-yellow silky hairs; the hairs on the sides are pale drab (adapted from Buckler). It feeds in June and early July, sometimes in September, on oak, birch, various kinds of _Rubus_, such as blackberry and raspberry, and also on bilberry (_Vaccinium_). The moth is out in late April and in May; occasionally late July and in August. It is rarely seen in the day time, but has been found resting on tree trunks. The range abroad extends to Southern Russia and Siberia.
THE SWEET-GALE MOTH (_Acronycta euphorbiae_ var. _myricae_).
Our form of this species--var. _myricae_, Guenee (Plate 103, Fig. 4), is rather larger and much darker than the type; but although it is generally somewhat smaller than the Alpine var. _montivaga_, Guenee, it is not otherwise separable from that form. So far as concerns the British Isles, it is only found in Scotland and, rarely, in Ireland. It was first obtained in Perths.h.i.+re, in 1846, by Weaver, and it is now known to occur more or less commonly through Scotland from Ayr to Sutherlands.h.i.+re. In Ireland it occurs in Cork, Kerry, Galway, and Sligo, and Kane considers that specimens from Markrea, and Lough Gill in the latter county are referable rather to var. _montivaga_, than to var. _myricae_. The moth is out in April, May, and June.
The dark greyish caterpillar has a deep black, broken, stripe along the middle of the back, and a series of pale yellow marks on each side of it; along the black-margined white spiracles there is a reddish orange line, or broken stripe; pale brownish hairs arising from yellowish warts on the back, and a cross-bar of reddish orange near the head. It feeds on sweet {198} gale, heather, birch, sallow, etc., and may be found from July to September. Two figures of it, from coloured drawings by Mr. Alfred Sich, will be found on Plate 102.
THE KNOT GRa.s.s (_Acronycta rumicis_).
The ordinary form of this moth is shown on Plate 103, Figs. 6[male], 7[female]. The species varies greatly in the amount of dark mottling and clouding on the fore wings; sometimes this is much reduced, and the pale grey ground colour is then clearly seen; more often these wings are entirely clouded over with blackish or sooty brown, leaving only the white bracket-like mark above the inner margin, and the submarginal cross line, distinctly visible (var. _salicis_, Curtis). The moth flies in June and July, and sometimes in August and September.
The hairy caterpillar, which is somewhat humped on rings four and eleven, is figured in Plate 102, Fig. 1. It is dark brownish grey, marked on the back with a central series of black patches in which are reddish spots, and a row of white spots on each side; below the white spiracles is a yellowish wavy line with reddish warts upon it. Various low-growing plants, such as plantain, dock, sorrel, and also hawthorn, sallow, and bramble, afford it nourishment, and it is found in July, August, and September.
Generally distributed throughout England and Wales, its range extending into Scotland as far north as Morays.h.i.+re; also in Ireland. The var.
_salicis_ occurs northwards from Shrops.h.i.+re through northern England into Scotland, but is perhaps most common in Ireland.
THE CORONET (_Craniophora ligustri_).
This is also the Crown Moth of Moses Harris, both English names referring to a fancied resemblance of the whitish or pale greyish mark, just beyond the reniform stigma, to a crown or coronet (Plate 103, Fig. 5). The greenish or brownish-olive fore wings are subject to modification in the depth of tint; sometimes they are blackish in tone--var. _nigra_, Tutt, or dark olive-green--var. _olivacea_, Tutt. In both of these named forms the whitish markings are obscured, and in this respect they seem to be about identical with var. _sundevalli_, Lampa.
[Ill.u.s.tration]
Pl. 104.
1, 3. ARCHER'S DART.