Volume I Part 31 (1/2)

Pl. 121.

1. LIGHT BROCADE.

2. DOG'S TOOTH.

3, 4. DARK BROCADE.

5. BEAUTIFUL ARCHES.

6. BEAUTIFUL BROCADE.

7. PALE SHOULDERED BROCADE.

{243} THE PALE-SHOULDERED BROCADE (_Mamestra thala.s.sina_).

The whitish or creamy-white patch at the base of the reddish-brown fore wings is a noticeable feature of this moth (Plate 121, Fig. 7), and is almost always present, even when the wings are darkened and the other markings more or less obscured. The W-like angles of the white submarginal line run through to the fringes. In some specimens the general colour is purplish brown, and in others greyish brown. The caterpillar is greyish-brown with a slight reddish tinge, and freckled with darker brown; the usual dots are black; central line dusky, a series of darker oblique dashes on each side of it; the line along the spiracles is rather broad and sometimes edged above with blackish. It feeds in August and September on dock, groundsel, honeysuckle, broom, sallow, hawthorn, apple, etc. The moth is out in June, earlier or later according to the season; sometimes it appears again in August or September. It may be found, commonly as a rule, in most woods over the greater part of the British Isles.

THE BEAUTIFUL BROCADE (_Mamestra contigua_).

The moth (Plate 121, Fig. 6) has a pale patch at the base of the fore wing, but this is not so conspicuous as is the pale orbicular stigma, which is often united with a pale mark at its lower edge; another pale patch lies at the inner angle, and the whole area between the second cross line and the clouding on {244} the outer margin may be pale. Sometimes these pale markings are tinged with pink, and more rarely the whole surface is pinkish suffused. The caterpillar is yellowish-green with reddish V-shaped marks on the back; a yellowish line along the black-margined white spiracles.

Buckler figures a reddish-brown form, with a yellowish stripe below the spiracles. It feeds in August and September on birch, oak, golden rod, bog myrtle (_Myrica gale_), dock, brake-fern (_Pteris aquilina_), etc. The moth appears in June, and may sometimes be seen in the daytime on tree trunks or palings. It is a woodland species, but although it occurs in most southern and eastern counties, it is not common in any of them; it becomes commoner in the Midlands, but is scarce in, or absent from, the northern counties of England, and in Wales. In Scotland it is more frequent in some localities from Argyll to Ross. Kane notes it as local, and sometimes abundant, but from the localities given it would seem to be widely distributed in Ireland. The range abroad extends through Northern Asia to j.a.pan.

THE BROOM MOTH (_Mamestra pisi_).

The moth shown on Plate 122, Figs. 1, 2 varies considerably, in the colour of the forewings ranging from purplish red to dingy ochreous brown or greyish brown. The cross lines and occasionally the stigmata and shades may disappear, but the yellow submarginal line always remains, at least in part. The caterpillar (Plate 129, Fig. 3) feeds on the foliage of a variety of plants including brake fern or braken, sweet gale, broom, bramble, wild rose, and sallow, and may be found, often in the daytime, in August and September. It is usually of some shade of green or brown, occasionally blackish, with yellow stripes. The moth is out in June and July and is more or less common almost throughout the British Isles. The range abroad extends to Amurland.

[Ill.u.s.tration]

Pl. 122.

1, 2. BROOM MOTH.

3, 4. NUTMEG MOTH.

5, 6. GLAUCOUS SHEARS.

7, 8, 9. SHEARS MOTH.

10. THE STRANGER.

11, 12. BRINDLED GREEN.

[Ill.u.s.tration]

Pl. 123.

1, 4. NORTHERN ARCHES MOTH.

3. NORTHERN ARCHES MOTH, _var. a.s.similis_.

2. BARRETT'S MARBLED CORONET.

5. GREY MOTH.

6. MARBLED CORONET.

7, 8. MARBLED CORONET _vars._

{245}

THE NUTMEG (_Mamestra trifolii_).