Volume I Part 38 (1/2)

Varies from pale ochreous white, through reddish shades, to a greyish brown. (Plate 145, Figs. 9 to 11.) The caterpillar is described by Hofmann, as pale reddish above and whitish below, with minute dark dots on the back and a fine blackish line along the sides; head and plate on first ring of the body brown and glossy. May and June, in stems of the jointed rush (_Juncus lamprocarpus_). The moth flies in July and August, and occurs in fens and marshes. At one time it was not uncommon in marshy localities around London, and it is still to be obtained in Richmond Park, Surrey. In some years it abounds in the Norfolk and Cambridge fens, and in others is hardly seen. It is also to be found more or less frequently but always local in Suffolk, Ess.e.x, Berks, Kent, Suss.e.x, Isle of Wight, Dorset (Isle of Purbeck), Devon, Somerset, Gloucester, North and South Wales, Ches.h.i.+re, and Yorks.h.i.+re; Argylls.h.i.+re in Scotland; Ireland.

THE SILKY WAINSCOT (_Senta maritima_).

In its typical form (Fig. 7) the moth shown on Plate 145 is whity-brown, clouded with grey and sometimes tinged with brownish on the disc. The orbicular and reniform stigmata are round and faintly outlined in whitish.

In var. _bipunctata_, Haworth, the stigmata are black and conspicuous: var.

_wismariensis_, Schmidt, has a blackish central streak from the base broadening out towards the outer margin (Fig. 8): var. _nigristriata_, Staud., has the fore-wings finely streaked with black; and var.

_nigrocostata_, Staud., has the front margin broadly black. The caterpillar is ochreous grey with three fine interrupted, whitish lines on the back; spiracles black with darker lines along their area; head dark brown and s.h.i.+ning. September to May, hiding by day in stems of reed (_Phragmites_) and at night {300} feeding on the caterpillars and chrysalids of other reed insects (Hofmann). The moth flies from late June to early August. It occurs in the fens of Norfolk and Cambridge, but in the former county it has been taken at Merton and King's Lynn. Dr. Wheeler states that it is usually found in the thicker reed beds where stems of the previous year's growth still remain. Specimens were obtained among reeds in the Harwich district, Ess.e.x, in 1902, and the species has also been recorded from Tring, Hertfords.h.i.+re, Surrey, Suss.e.x, and the Isle of Wight.

THE FLAME WAINSCOT (_Meliana flammea_).

The original British specimen, which Curtis in 1829 named, described, and figured, was stated to have been taken ”near Lewisham, towards Lee, in July.” Now it is only known to occur in Huntingdon, Norfolk, and Cambridges.h.i.+re, chiefly in the fens; in Wicken fen in the latter county it is most plentiful. (Plate 145, Figs. 5, 6.) The caterpillar is greyish ochreous brown, rather paler beneath, with paler lines along the back and sides, the central one edged on each side with darker; spiracles whitish, outlined with black, and a greyish drab spiracular stripe with paler edges; head s.h.i.+ning, and faintly netted with darker grey. (Condensed from Buckler.) Hides by day in the old stems of reed (_Phragmites_), and feeds at night on the leaves, August to October.

THE SMALL WAINSCOT (_Tapinostola fulva_).

The fore wings vary in colour from almost whitish through various shades of grey brown and reddish brown (Plate 145, Figs. 12 to 14). The caterpillar, pale s.h.i.+ning pinkish ochreous; central stripe pale, bordered on each side with greyish brown. Head pale brown, marked with darker, s.h.i.+ning. June and July in stems of sedges (_Carex_). The moth flies in August and {301} September, and is found in fens and marshy ground pretty well all over the British Isles, including the Hebrides.

THE CONCOLOROUS (_Tapinostola extrema_).

This species (Plate 146, Fig. 3) was at one time subsequent to 1844, when it was first discovered in Yaxley Fen, not at all scarce in that locality and in other fens in Huntingdons.h.i.+re and Cambridges.h.i.+re. It then disappeared from all its old haunts, some of which were destroyed; but a few years since it was met with again in Hunts, and apparently not uncommonly.

BOND'S WAINSCOT (_Tapinostola bondii_).

The whitish moth shown on Plate 146, Fig. 4, was first taken at Folkestone, Kent, by Dr. Knaggs, in 1859, and named and described by him in 1861. It still occurs in that locality and also on the Devon and Dorsets.h.i.+re coast, the known localities being Charmouth, Lyme Regis, and Sidmouth.

The caterpillar is dirty white in colour inclining to brownish at each end; a whitish line along the middle of the back; head brown. Feeds from August to June in stems of _Festuca arundinacea_. The moth flies in June and July.

THE MERE WAINSCOT (_Tapinostola h.e.l.lmanni_).

Present localities for this reddish species (Plate 146, Figs. 1, 2) are Wicken and Chippenham fens, Chatteris and Whittlesford, in Cambridges.h.i.+re; Monk's Wood in Hunts. Formerly Yaxley, where it was first taken in 1847, used to be a noted locality, but the insect disappeared when the fen was drained. It has been reported from Norfolk (Yarmouth), Lincolns.h.i.+re, Devons.h.i.+re (Dartmoor), and Hertfords.h.i.+re (Hitchin), chiefly in odd specimens. The caterpillar has been described by Hofmann as yellowish-white, or reddish above and paler beneath; plate {302} on first ring of the body rather glossy, head glossy yellow brown. It lives from autumn to June of the next year in stems of the wood smallreed (_Calamagrostis epigeios_). The moth flies in July and August.

THE LYME GRa.s.s (_Tapinostola elymi_).

The more or less brownish-tinged, whitish-ochreous species shown on Plate 146, Figs. 5, 6, was not recorded as a British insect until 1861. It is now known to occur in England in many localities, but all on the east coast from Norfolk to Durham. In the _Entomologist_ for 1894, it is recorded as occurring at Montrose on the Forfars.h.i.+re coast in Scotland. The caterpillar is described by Buckler as pale flesh colour, with a rather darker stripe along the back; spiracles black; head reddish-brown, s.h.i.+ning; s.h.i.+ning yellowish-brown plates on the first and last rings of the body. It feeds on the stems of lyme-gra.s.s (_Elymus arenarius_) in May and June. The moth flies at early dusk over and among its food plants, and later on it settles on the stems, from which it may be easily boxed.

THE BRIGHTON WAINSCOT (_Oria_ (_Synia_) _musculosa_).

This yellowish-clouded, whitish insect is a native of Southern Europe, Asia Minor, Syria, and North-west Africa. Occasionally it has occurred in England, and in the time of Haworth and Stephens one or two specimens seem to have been recorded as British. In 1855 an example was captured at Brighton, and others occurred in the same locality, and at Bexhill, Kent (Jenner), between that year and 1860. A specimen was recorded from Brighton in 1883, and one from South Devon in 1899. Reported from Wilts.h.i.+re in 1910.

(Plate 146, Fig. 7.)

[Ill.u.s.tration]

Pl. 146.

1, 2. MERE WAINSCOT.

3. THE CONCOLOROUS.

4. BOND'S WAINSCOT.

5, 6. LYME GRa.s.s MOTH.

7. BRIGHTON WAINSCOT.

[Ill.u.s.tration]

Pl. 147.

1, 2. COMMON WAINSCOT.

3, 4. SMOKY WAINSCOT.