Volume I Part 39 (1/2)

4. THE WHITE SPECK.

5. THE WHITE POINT.

6. THE COSMOPOLITAN.

{305} In the typical form the fore wings are of a smooth soft honey colour, or colour of the honeycomb, having the nervures faintly perceptible, but not paler; a black discal dot, and two more dots with some faint blackish dashes indicate the usual second line. Tutt has named several forms, the most important being ab. _lutea_, bright yellow buff with discal dot and two dots beyond; and ab. _rufa_, deep reddish with discal dot and two others beyond. Besides these there are ab. _aenea_, Mathew, deep orange, with only one dot representing second line; and ab. _obscura_, Mathew, cinnamon-brown, with smoky shading between some of the nervures. The hind wings vary from whitish with darker nervures, to smoky grey; but the fringes always remain whitish.

The caterpillar is a warm putty colour, or pinkish brown, mottled and shaded with darker shades; three pale whitish brown lines on the back, the central one bordered on each side by a darker shade, and the outer ones shaded inwardly with darker and edged below by a darker line; a brown or pinkish stripe above the spiracles, and a pinkish yellow stripe below them; head yellowish-brown, s.h.i.+ning, and dotted with darker colour. It feeds on gra.s.ses from July to April (adapted from Mathew). The moth flies in June and July, and frequents the flowers of the large gra.s.ses growing on salt marshes. Sometimes specimens of a second brood appear in August or September.

THE SMOKY WAINSCOT (_Leucania impura_).

The range of this common species (Plate 147, Figs. 3[male], 4[female]), in the British Isles is almost the same as that of _L. pallens_, but it does not extend further north than Moray in Scotland. The hind wings are greyish or blackish grey. A form with reddish {306} fore wings is var. _punctina_, Haw., which sometimes has a row of black dots on the outer margin. The caterpillar is greyish ochreous above, greenish tinged beneath; a brown stripe along the middle of the back is intersected by a very fine white line; above the reddish black-edged spiracles is a brownish stripe; usual dots black; head pale brown, s.h.i.+ning, netted with brown and lined with blackish. It feeds on gra.s.ses from August to May. The moth is out in July and August; rather later in the north. Distribution abroad extends to Amurland and j.a.pan.

THE SOUTHERN WAINSCOT (_Leucania straminea_).

In its more usual form this species (Plate 147, Fig. 5) has pale whity-brown or pale straw-coloured fore wings, and the black dots forming the second line not infrequently absent, at least as regards some of them.

Var. _rufolinea_, Tutt, has the fore wings reddish ochreous, the rays whitish, and the shade under the median nervure reddish. Var.

_nigrostriata_, Tutt, has the ground colour of the fore wings obscured by a thick powdering of black scales. The hind wings in all forms are whitish, sometimes greyish tinged. Generally there is a central black dot, and a more or less complete series of black dots beyond it; but some, or all, of these dots may be absent. The caterpillar, which feeds on the leaves of reeds, _Phalaris_, and other coa.r.s.e gra.s.ses from October to May, is ochreous with an orange tinge, and dusted with grey; three white lines on the back are broadly shaded with bluish grey; on the sides are two grey shaded white lines; head s.h.i.+ning brownish ochreous (Fenn). The moth flies in July and August, sometimes earlier.

Hammersmith Marshes, a once noted locality for this, the Obscure Wainscot, and other good species, have long since been built over; but the present insect, and perhaps some of the other ancient inhabitants of the said marshes, possibly still occur along the banks of the Thames. Anyhow, it does lower {307} down in the Kentish marshes. It is found in most of the eastern counties from Ess.e.x to Huntington and Lincoln, and also, but less frequent, in Suss.e.x, Devon, and Cornwall. Kane gives Dromoland, Co. Clare, and Enniskillen, Co. Fermanagh, Ireland.

THE STRIPED WAINSCOT (_Leucania impudens_).

This is a rather larger insect than either of the last four species. The fore wings are whitish ochreous, powdered with blackish scales, and often tinged with pinkish. The black shading along the median nervure is sometimes very conspicuous. The caterpillar is ochreous brown, with three blackish-edged whitish lines on the back and dark stripes along the sides; head pale brown marked with darker. It feeds on the leaves of the reed (_Phragmites_) in June. The moth flies in July and August in fens, boggy heaths, and marshy ground, and is found in such places in most of the eastern counties, in Yorks.h.i.+re, and from Berks.h.i.+re and Kent to Devon, also in South Wales and in Galway, Cork, and Kerry, Ireland. Abroad the range extends to Siberia and Amurland. (Plate 147, Fig. 6.)

THE OBSCURE WAINSCOT (_Leucania obsoleta_).

This species (Plate 147, Figs. 7[male], 8[female]) will be recognized by the fine blackish lines on the fore wings, the white dot at lower end of the cell, and the row of black dots representing the second cross line. It is a very local species, chiefly found among reeds in Norfolk and Cambridges.h.i.+re, and may also occur in marshy places along the banks of the Thames from Bucks to Kent. The caterpillar is greyish ochreous above and paler beneath; three white lines on the back, the central one edged with greenish on each side, and the others edged with brownish; the line along the black-edged spiracles is greyish; head pale {308} brown striped with darker. It feeds from August to October on the leaves of the reed (_Phragmites_), hiding by day in the stems. It also hibernates in the reeds when full grown, but does not change to the chrysalis state until the spring. The moth flies in June and July.

THE Sh.o.r.e WAINSCOT (_Leucania littoralis_).

The white line running through the pale ochreous brown fore wings is the chief character of this species. (Plate 150, Figs. 4, 5.) The caterpillar (Plate 152, Fig. 2) is whity-brown with three lines on the back, the central one is whitish, shaded with dusky on each side, the others brown edged with whitish; the spiracles are whitish, outlined in blackish; head, and plate on first ring of the body, bone colour, s.h.i.+ning. It feeds from August to May on marram gra.s.s (_Psamma arenaria_), but will eat meadow gra.s.s (_Poa_) and other kinds in confinement. The moth is out in June and July, sometimes earlier or later. It is a coast species, occurring only on sandhills where the marram gra.s.s flourishes, and in such localities is found all round England and Wales; on the east coast of Scotland to Forfars.h.i.+re, and on the west to Clydesdale and Arran; and in Ireland on the north, south, and east coasts.

FENN'S WAINSCOT (_Leucania brevilinea_).

On Plate 144, Fig. 9 represents the type of this specimen, and Fig. 10 ab.

_sinelinea_, Farn. This form, which has also been referred to as ”_alinea_,” is without the typical black streak at the base of the fore wings. The caterpillar is pale pinkish grey; dorsal line pale yellow or bone colour; subdorsal stripes of the same colour, edged on each side by a grey line, and each divided down the middle by a slender pale brown line; spiracular stripe of a dull opaque yellowish white edged above with grey; head, and plate on the first ring of the body, pale brown, the latter striped with pale yellow (Barrett). It feeds in the upper part of reed stems until nearly full grown, and then upon the leaves. April to July.

Barrett states that it prefers the reeds near small trees or bushes to those growing in ma.s.ses. The moth is out in July and August, and may be netted as it flies at dusk along the edges of the reed beds, etc.; later on it resorts to the honeydew-covered leaves of sallow and alder, and also visits light. This species was first taken in 1864 at Ranworth in Norfolk; it is now obtained in Barton Broad and several other localities in the Norfolk fens, but not in any other part of the British Isles. It does not appear to occur abroad.

[Ill.u.s.tration]

Pl. 150.

1, 2. BROWN-LINE BRIGHT-EYE MOTH.

3, 6. DOUBLE-LINE MOTH.

4, 5. Sh.o.r.e WAINSCOT.

7, 8. CLAY MOTH.

[Ill.u.s.tration]

Pl. 151.

1, 2, 3. TREBLE LINES MOTH.

4. ANOMALOUS MOTH.