Volume Ii Part 19 (1/2)
3, 4. LESSER CREAM WAVE.
5-7. MULLEIN WAVE.
9. LEWES WAVE.
8. SUB-ANGLED WAVE.
10. ROSY WAVE.
11, 12. SMALL BLOOD-VEIN.
{123}
THE LACE BORDER (_Acidalia_ (_Craspedia_) _ornata_).
The conspicuously marked white moth depicted on Plate 46, Figs. 13 and 14, is unlikely to escape the notice of the collector who visits rough fields and hillsides in some of the chalk districts of Southern England, especially in the counties of Kent, Surrey, and Suss.e.x. Usually there are two generations of the moth during the year; one is on the wing in May and June, and the other flies in August and September.
The caterpillar is of long and slender build, the head is notched, and the skin of the body is roughened. In colour it is ochreous brown above and greyish beneath; there are three lines along the back, the central one pale, except towards the head, edged with dusky, the others dark brown. On each ring, from four to eight, are two dark V-shaped marks; low down along the sides there is a dusky edged and mottled, pale ochreous stripe. It feeds, from October to May, and in July and August, on thyme, marjoram, and may be reared on garden mint. Abroad, the species ranges over Central and Southern Europe, and through Asia to Amurland.
NOTE.--According to Prout (_Entom._ x.x.xix. 267), this species is the type of the genus _Scopula_, Schrank. {124}
THE CREAM WAVE (_Acidalia_ (_Leptomeris_) _remutaria_).
This species (Plate 49, Figs. 1, 2) has the wings white or ochreous white, becoming rather smoky grey on the front edge of the fore wings, and sometimes this tinge spreads all over the wings. In well-marked specimens there are two dark, wavy, cross-lines, a dusky central shade, and a dusky shade-like stripe along the outer area beyond the second line; the first line of the fore wings is often placed close to the central shade, and sometimes it is merged in it. Not infrequently the lines are barely traceable, but almost as often the wings appear to have a pair of lines only, and these distinctly darker than usual.
The caterpillar is rough, long and slender; grey-brown with irregular darker marks, a pale line along the middle of the back, and a dark cross on the back of ring ten. The notched head is pale brown with a black V-mark.
It feeds, from July to September, on bedstraw (_Galium_), woodruff (_Asperula_), dock, sallow, etc.
The moth is out in May and June, and often is plentiful in woods throughout the greater part of England and Wales; in Yorks.h.i.+re and northwards through Scotland up to Moray it is rather local. In Ireland it has been found in Wicklow and Louth, but more commonly in the south and west.
The range abroad extends to Amurland and j.a.pan.
THE LESSER CREAM WAVE (_Acidalia_ (_Leptomeris_) _immutata_).
White, more or less tinged with ochreous or ochreous grey in the male, is the general colour of this moth; the wings are crossed by several ochreous lines, the third line of the fore wings and the second line of the hind wings rather wavy. All the wings with central black dots, most distinct on the hind pair, occasionally absent from fore wings. (Plate 49, Figs. 3 [male], 4 [female].) {125}
The long caterpillar is pale greyish-brown, with three dusky lines on the back; the black spiracles are set in a pale stripe, and below this is a dusky line; head small and round (Barrett). August to May. The natural food appears to be _Valeriana officinalis_, and _Spiraea_, but it has been reared from the egg on groundsel, knotgra.s.s, etc., also hawthorn, and moths obtained the same year, about September.
In the open the moth is to be found in fens, bogs, and marshy places in fields and woods, during June and July. It is not uncommon, in suitable spots, in most of the southern and eastern counties of England. In the west, including Wales, and through the Midlands, it is local to Yorks.h.i.+re, but is widely distributed in the south of the latter county; it occurs, rarely, in Durham. In Scotland it has only been definitely noted from Arran. Widely distributed, and common, in many parts of Ireland.
Abroad, the range extends to Amurland.
THE MULLEIN WAVE (_Acidalia_ (_Leptomeris_) _marginepunctata_).
This species exhibits more variation than is usual in this group.
Typically, the moth is greyish white, but in some specimens the grey is most in evidence, and in others the white. A practically black form, with white fringes, has been noted from North Cornwall, and at Eastbourne and Portland many of the specimens have a clear, bone-coloured ground, with fine but very distinct cross-markings; these seem to be referable to ab.
_pastoraria_, Joannis. The cross lines in both dark and light forms are sometimes very indistinct, but occasionally the first and second of the fore wings are united, and so form an irregular dusky band; the greyish clouding on the outer marginal area is also variable. Three {126} specimens are shown on Plate 49; two from Eastbourne, Figs. 5 [female], 6 [male], and one from Ess.e.x, Fig. 7 [female].
The long caterpillar is very pale slaty-olive, with three paler lines along the back, the central one edged on each side with olive, darkest on the last three rings; spiracles black, and under surface of the body pale slate blue (adapted from Porritt). It feeds on various low-growing plants, among which, yarrow, mugwort, chickweed, cinquefoil, and knotgra.s.s have been mentioned; also, it is said, on sallow. There are certainly two broods in the south, one feeding up in the summer, and the other hatching in September, and after hibernation attaining full growth in May or June.
Moths of the first generation are on the wing in June and July, and of the second in August and September. Although sometimes found inland, the species is more especially attached to the coast, and is found in nearly all the seaboard counties of England, Wales, and Ireland. In Scotland, it occurs in Wigtowns.h.i.+re, and very dark specimens have been obtained on rocks in dry pastures at Ardrossan; June to end of July.
THE LEWES WAVE (_Acidalia_ (_Leptomeris_) _immorata_).