Volume Ii Part 13 (1/2)
Bluish-green, sometimes tinged with ochreous; raised dots, black at the tips, on a base of whitish green; along the middle of the back is a series of darker green spear-points, and beyond this on each side a pale line, edged above by a fine wavy black line, and below by a darker green line; the eighth and eleventh rings of the body darker than the others. (Abridged from description by Buckler.) It feeds on lichens growing upon larch, spruce, hawthorn, sloe, fruit trees, etc., from September to May. The moth is out in June, July, and August, and may be beaten from the branches of trees, and from hedges, but the flus.h.i.+ng of a specimen in this way is always a more or less casual event. It has been taken on several occasions at street lamps, and also in illuminated moth traps.
In England the species seems to be widely distributed over the southern counties to Oxfords.h.i.+re and Gloucesters.h.i.+re; and in the east to Norfolk. It has also been recorded from Derbys.h.i.+re (one), and Yorks.h.i.+re (two).
The range abroad extends to Amurland. {86}
THE WAVED BLACK (_Parascotia fuliginaria_).
In the shape of its wings and general appearance the dingy insect represented on Plate 36, Fig. 2, would seem to belong to the Geometridae rather than to the present group, and, indeed, has been mistaken for a dark form of _Ematurga atomaria_. However, the long, projecting palpi are evidence of its being a member of this sub-family.
The caterpillar, which is moderately stout, and tapers slightly towards each end, has only twelve feet. Ground colour, sooty black, with orange-coloured raised dots, from which arise long recurved hairs. The late Mr. W. H. Tugwell (from whose description of the larva that given above has been adapted), in 1884, was shown caterpillars upon a black sooty-looking fungus (determined by Dr. M. C. Cooke as an effused _Muscedine_), growing in ma.s.ses on rotten wood in an old wooden building in Bermondsey, near the river. He afterwards reared the moths.
The caterpillar hatches from the egg in August, but it is not full grown until May or June, when it spins a fairly compact coc.o.o.n of greyish silk, which is coated with particles of decayed wood and dried fungus.
The moth is out in June and July, and most of the known British specimens have been captured in London, or reared from caterpillars found therein.
Stephens (1831) mentions three or four examples taken during the previous thirty years, and gives as localities--Blackfriars bridge, and Little Chelsea; Stainton (1859) adds, Fleet Street. Other specimens have been taken in the City in 1855, 1859, 1862, 1870, 1879, and 1881. One occurred at Clapham in 1864, and one has been reported from Crome in Worcesters.h.i.+re.
More recent records are--one specimen flying around a sugared post at Walthamstow, July 29, 1901; eight, chiefly at light, at Camberley, 1904-5; and lastly, a specimen at St. Katharine's Docks, July, 1906. {87}
THE FAN-FOOT (_Zanclognatha tarsipennalis_).
This species is shown in both s.e.xes on Plate 35, Figs. 1 [male], 2 [female]; it is the _Pyralis tentaculalis_ of Haworth, and also that author's _tarsicrinatus_, and the _tarsicrinalis_ of Stephens. The general colour is brownish, sometimes inclining to ochreous, and occasionally with a greyish cast. The submarginal line starts from the front edge, before the tip, of the fore wing.
The caterpillar is greyish brown, darker freckled, and dotted with black, downy; three broken darker lines along the back, the central one broad and inclining to black, and lower down along the sides is a series of blackish streaks; head, darker. It feeds in July and August, and hibernates when nearly or quite full grown. Among various foods that have been mentioned for it are raspberry, ivy, and knotgra.s.s. Some years ago I had some moths emerge in the autumn; these resulted from caterpillars that I had reared from the egg on blackberry, and I remember that they showed a decided preference for the withered leaves left in the cage for them to pupate among. (Plate 34, Fig. 2.)
The moth is out in June and July, but individuals of a second generation seldom occur in the open. Although it occurs in woods, it is far more frequent in lanes and hedgerows. Common and generally distributed, from Worcester southwards, and to the east and west; northwards its range extends to Yorks.h.i.+re, but it is local and uncommon.
In Scotland it is not scarce in some parts of Ayrs.h.i.+re, and has been recorded from Kircudbrights.h.i.+re. Kane mentions it as fairly common in Ireland.
The range abroad extends to Amurland, Corea, and j.a.pan. {88}
THE SMALL FAN-FOOT (_Zanclognatha grisealis_).
This species (Plate 35, Fig. 3) is somewhat similar to the last in colour, but it is smaller, and the submarginal line is rather curved, and runs to the tip of the fore wing. The caterpillar is obscurely greyish, with a pinkish tinge; three darker lines along the back, the central one broadest, but not distinct on the first three rings; head, brown, freckled with darker brown, plate of first ring of the body, blackish brown. It feeds on oak, and may be beaten from the foliage in August and September. Buckler states that this species pa.s.ses the winter in the chrysalis state, and this has been confirmed by Plum. (Plate 34, Fig. 1; after Hofmann.)
The moths emerge in June and July, and may frequently be dislodged from trees, hedges, and undergrowth in the daytime. Pretty generally distributed over the southern half of England, plentiful in many parts, and widely spread over the northern half of the country. It is not scarce in some parts of Wales, but seems to be uncommon in Scotland, and has been recorded from the south only. In Ireland it has a wide range, but does not appear to be noted as common in any locality.
THE OLIVE CRESCENT (_Zanclognatha_ (_Sophronia_) _emortualis_).
The species depicted on Plate 36, Fig. 8, from a continental specimen, is exceedingly rare in England, in fact, apart from the specimens mentioned by early authors, only three authentic British examples appear to be known.
These are--one captured at Brighton, Suss.e.x, in June, 1858; one in June, 1859, in Epping Forest, Ess.e.x; and one taken at sugar by the Rev. B. H.
Binks, of Stonor, Henley-on-Thames, in July of the year last mentioned.
Stephens (1834), who gives a very unsatisfactory description {89} of the species, refers to two specimens, of which one was in his collection, from Devons.h.i.+re. Wood's figure (768) of _emortualis_, in the Westwood edition of the _Index Entomologicus_, does not represent this species, but is far more like _Herminia derivalis_, Hubner.
Abroad, the range extends to Amurland.
THE LESSER BELLE (_Madopa salicalis_).
A portrait of this uncommon British moth will be found on Plate 35, Fig. 4.
The greyish fore wings are crossed by three paler edged reddish-brown lines, the outer one running to the tip of the wing, and the inner one is sometimes faint or absent.