Volume I Part 26 (1/2)

The ordinary form of the male and the female is represented on Plate 104.

The species is an exceedingly variable one, and Haworth (1803), believing them to be distinct species, gave Latin and English names to several of the different forms. The ground colour in the male ranges from pale whitish or brownish ochreous, with strong markings, to blackish brown, with the markings obscured. The female ranges in colour of {202} fore wings from greyish to blackish. Caterpillar, greyish brown, tinged with ochreous, or sometimes pinkish; a glossy plate on first ring, greyish or brownish; spots glossy, each with a tiny hair; lines rather darker, but often indistinct.

It feeds from July to April on various plants, but only attacks the tender stems near the surface of the ground. In fields it is destructive to turnips and swedes, making large cavities in the bulb, which it enters from just above the tap-root. The moth flies in June, and occasionally as a second generation in the autumn. Generally distributed over the British Isles, and often very common. Its range extends throughout nearly the whole of Europe and the greater part of Asia.

THE ARCHER'S DART (_Agrotis_ (_Euxoa_) _vestigialis_).

The specimens shown on Plate 104 are typical of the s.e.xes (Figs. 1[male], 3[female]). The normal pale brown colour is sometimes replaced by greyish, reddish, or olive brown. A specimen with black fore and hind wings has been recorded from North Wales by Mr. Jager. The markings vary in intensity, and occasionally are almost or quite absent. Several of the varieties have been named. The caterpillar, which feeds on bed-straw and various gra.s.ses, etc., is greenish grey, inclining to brownish above, with a dark-edged pale line along the middle of the back, and a similar line on each side; the raised spots are black, and the plate on first ring brownish; head ochreous, marked with darker. August to May. The moth is out in July and August, and is chiefly found on sandhills by the sea. It is most plentiful on the eastern and southern coasts, and in Ches.h.i.+re, Lancas.h.i.+re, and Yorks.h.i.+re: it is often not uncommon in the Brandon and Tuddenham districts, and others, in the ”Breck Sand” area of Suffolk and Norfolk. The species has been recorded from Worcesters.h.i.+re, and I understand that a few specimens were taken in Surrey last August (1907). In Scotland it occurs on the east coast, and in the Orkney Isles; also in Ayr, on the south-west. In Ireland, also, it is found on suitable parts of the coast.

[Ill.u.s.tration]

Pl. 106.

1, 2. SAND DART.

3, 4. COAST DART.

5, 6. GARDEN DART.

7, 8, 11. WHITE LINE DART.

9, 10. WHITE-LINE DART, _var. aquilina._ 12. SQUARE-SPOT DART.

[Ill.u.s.tration]

Pl. 107.

1. TRUE-LOVER'S KNOT.

2, 3. HEATH RUSTIC.

4. PORTLAND MOTH.

5, 6. STOUT DART.

7, 8. DOTTED RUSTIC.

9, 10. NORTHERN RUSTIC.

{203} THE HEART AND CLUB (_Agrotis_ (_Euxoa_) _corticea_).

The more usual form of the male and the female are shown on Plate 105 (Figs. 7[male], 8[female]). The colour varies from pale brown to a whitish or greyish brown tint in one direction, and to reddish or blackish brown in another. The cross lines, generally well defined, are sometimes absent, or nearly so, in some of the pale forms, and much obscured in the dark forms.

The black outlined reniform and orbicular stigmata are sometimes obscured by a blackish cloud; the pale-centred, club-like mark below them varies in length, and is occasionally reduced to a small spot. ”_Noctua subfusca_,”

Haworth, has been determined by Mr. E. R. Bankes, who possesses the type, to be an obscurely marked fuscous [male] example of this species. The greyish brown, rather rough-looking caterpillar, is freckled with a darker tint above, and inclined to greenish below; a fine, pale line along the middle of the back is edged with brownish, and on each side there is a pale line, edged above with brown, and below this a double pale line; head marked with blackish (Plate 109, Fig. 1). It feeds from March to April, after hibernation, on various low-growing plants, including goose-foot (_Chenopodium_), persicaria, knotgra.s.s, dock, and clover. The moth is on the wing in June and July, and very occasionally in September. It is rather a common insect in eastern and southern counties bordering the sea, but extends into Surrey, and occasionally into Cambridges.h.i.+re, Oxfords.h.i.+re, and Berks.h.i.+re; and is also found more or less frequently in Herefords.h.i.+re, Warwicks.h.i.+re, Staffords.h.i.+re, Ches.h.i.+re, Lancas.h.i.+re, and Yorks.h.i.+re. In Scotland it occurs in Ayr, and on the eastern side to Moray. It has been taken in various {204} counties, on the coast, of Ireland from Cork to Sligo, and from Wicklow to Derry.

THE LIGHT FEATHERED RUSTIC (_Agrotis_ (_Euxoa_) _cinerea_).

Both s.e.xes are shown in their typical forms on Plate 105. The fore wings of the male (Fig. 9) are generally pale greyish in colour, with blackish cross lines and central shade; the claviform mark is absent, and the orbicular stigma usually so, or represented by a dusky dot; sometimes the ground colour is brownish, occasionally purplish grey, and very rarely black. The female (Fig. 10) is smaller, and always much darker.

The caterpillar is blackish green or dark greyish, with three fine pale lines, the central one edged on both sides, and the others edged above, with a darker tint; a pale stripe along the black spiracles; head, and plate on first ring black. It feeds on wild thyme, and is said to eat dock.

It hatches from the egg in late June or early July, and presumably hibernates when full grown, as it does not seem to feed again when it reappears in early spring.

The moth flies in May and June, and is only to be found on hills and downs in chalk or limestone districts. It occurs in Surrey, Dorset, Isle of Wight, Devon, Gloucesters.h.i.+re, Herefords.h.i.+re, North Wales, Berks.h.i.+re, Oxfords.h.i.+re, Cambridge, and Suffolk; it seems to have been most frequently met with in Kent and Suss.e.x. The small form, with narrow and distinctly marked fore wings, and whitish hind wings, occurring in the south of England, has been named var. _tephrina_, Staud.

THE SHUTTLE-SHAPED DART (_Agrotis_ (_Euxoa_) _puta_).

As will be seen by the figures on Plate 104, the s.e.xes of this species also differ greatly in colour. Usually the cross lines on the fore wings of the male do not show up so distinctly as in {205} Fig. 2, which closely approaches a form figured and described as _radiola_ by Stephens in 1829.

Fig. 5 represents the typical blackish-brown female. Gynandrous specimens, one side [male] the other [female], have been recorded. The caterpillar feeds on dandelion, lettuce, knotgra.s.s, and other low-growing plants, from September to April; probably full grown before hibernation. The moth, which is out in July and August, sometimes in May, is partial to low-lying, marshy ground and meadows, and is widely distributed over the whole of the south of England, but it is seemingly rare in the north, and still more so in Scotland and Ireland. Barrett states that it has been found commonly in Carmarthens.h.i.+re, Wales.

THE CRESCENT DART (_Agrotis_ (_Euxoa_) _lunigera_).