Volume Ii Part 4 (1/2)
The caterpillar is reddish brown, freckled with paler; the three pale lines along the back are distinctly white on the plate on ring 1, the outer lines edged below with brownish; spiracles outlined in black, and the stripe along them is reddish ochreous. It feeds in spring and early summer, at first on oak, sallow, and hawthorn, and afterwards on low-growing weeds.
The moth flies in October and November, and as it lives through the winter is seen at sugar on any mild night, but it does not seem to turn up at the sallow catkins in the spring. The species is rather less generally distributed than the last, but it is not uncommon in the southern and eastern counties, and is found throughout England to the Tyne. Recorded from very few localities in Ireland, and apparently not noticed in Scotland.
THE DOTTED CHESTNUT (_Orrhodia_ (_Dasycampa_) _rubiginea_).
A pair of typical specimens are represented on Plate 11, Figs. 11 and 12. A form of the species occurring in Somersets.h.i.+re has the fore wings reddish brown, and the usual black dots are largely absent (ab. _unicolor_, Tutt).
The caterpillar (Plate 6, Fig. 2) is purplish brown freckled with blackish; there are three obscure paler lines along the back from ring 3, and a central series of black spots; the head is black, and the fine hairs of the body are yellowish brown. It feeds, in May and June, on apple, plum, dandelion, etc. The fact has been noted that, if supplied with apple until about half grown, and afterwards with dandelion, it attains full size more quickly than when kept to one kind of food only.
The moth appears in October and November, retires during the cold weather, and comes forth again in the spring. When {27} reared in confinement, it emerges from the chrysalis about a month earlier. Ivy bloom, ripe yew berries, and also sugar attract it in the autumn, and in the spring it visits the blossoms of sallow, damson, and sloe. There are several records of its having been taken at light, perhaps the latest of these being that of a specimen captured at Exeter on April 11, 1906.
Except in Devons.h.i.+re, where it is of more regular occurrence, the species is far from common in England, but is taken in, or has been recorded from, the counties of Dorset, Wilts, Gloucester, Hereford, Monmouth (S. Wales), Hants and Isle of Wight, Suss.e.x, Surrey, Berks, Bucks, and Cambridge. In Ireland it is noted from Dublin, King's County, Kerry, Wicklow, and Galway.
It is represented in j.a.pan by the larger ab. _fornax_, Butler.
THE SATELLITE (_Eupsilia_ (_Scopelosoma_) _satellitia_).
An example of each s.e.x of this species is shown on Plate 12, together with a less common form. Although specimens vary in the amount of red in the colour of the fore wings, there is more striking aberration in the colour of the lunular marks representing the reniform stigma; these are frequently white, but may be yellow (typical), or reddish orange in either s.e.x. The dull brownish specimen (Fig. 3) is from Yorks.h.i.+re, and appears to be referable to var. _brunnea_, Lampa.
The caterpillar is dark brown, with indistinct paler lines on the back; the line along the spiracles is white or whitish, but often reduced to a series of spots on rings 1, 2, 5, and 11. Head, ochreous-brown, darker about the mouth. It feeds, in May and June, on the leaves of oak, beech, elm, and other trees, also on low plants; and has a keen appet.i.te, it is said, for other caterpillars when the opportunity offers.
The moth is out in September, and may be seen at ivy bloom or sugar during that month, and also in October and November {28} if the weather is favourable; it is early on the wing again in the spring.
Although apparently uncommon in some few parts, the species seems to be generally distributed and plentiful throughout England, Wales, Scotland up to Ross (recorded from Stromma, Orkney), and Ireland.
In j.a.pan, a greyish form with larger spots (ab. _tripuncta_, Butler) occurs.
THE TAWNY PINION (_Lithophane_ (_Xylina_) _semibrunnea_).
An example of this species is represented on Plate 12, Fig. 4. The black streak from above the middle of the inner margin towards the hind margin should be noted, as this character distinguishes _semibrunnea_ from dark forms of the following species--_L. socia._
The caterpillar is yellowish green, with a broad creamy stripe along the middle of the back, and two indistinct fine lines on each side; below the black-outlined white spiracles is a yellow stripe. Head, bluish green, freckled with darker green. It feeds on ash in May and June.
The moth appears on the wing, and may be seen at ivy bloom and sugar, from September to November, and is sometimes captured at sallow, after hibernation, in March or April.
It is on record that two specimens taken in November were kept in confinement, and three other captives were added in February. All continued to live until June, and two were still alive on the 23rd of that month.
Although this species is found more or less regularly in most of the English counties south of Worcester on the west, and Huntingdon on the east, it is always very local, and never plentiful. It has been reported from Carmarthens.h.i.+re in South Wales; and Kane states that in Ireland it has been taken in Galway and Kerry.
[Ill.u.s.tration]
2 Pl. 12.
1-3. THE SATELLITE.
6. GREY SHOULDER-KNOT.
4. TAWNY PINION.
7. EARLY GREY.
5. PALE PINION.
8, 9. GOLDEN-ROD BRINDLE.
[Ill.u.s.tration]