Volume Ii Part 20 (1/2)

BRIGHT WAVE (_Acidalia_ (_Sterrha_) _ochrata_).

At one time this ochreous brown species (Plate 50, Fig. 3) was an inhabitant of the Ess.e.x coast, and was found commonly at Southend among other places. Deal and other parts of the Kentish coast are more frequently mentioned in connection with later records of the species. In the present day it is far less plentiful at Deal than formerly, but it is still to be found there. Specimens have been taken in the Isle of Wight, and one has been noted from Suffolk (Aldeburgh).

The pale ochreous brown or greyish ochreous caterpillar has three broken greyish lines on the back; it tapers towards the small head, and the skin of the body is closely wrinkled. It feeds from August to May, or a little later, on the flowers of hawk's-beard (_Crepis_), dandelion, coltsfoot, golden rod, etc., and in confinement it seems to accept most kinds of flowers that are offered, even when widely different. Thus, Mr. Conquest, in 1907, had some caterpillars which hatched during the first week in August from eggs laid on July 25; these were at first supplied with flowering sprays of yellow bedstraw (_Galium verum_), and later on with the flowers of golden rod (_Solidago_). Instead of hibernating, which is no doubt the normal habit in the species, some larvae reared from the egg in confinement and subjected to fostering warmth will grow very quickly and produce moths the same year.

[Ill.u.s.tration]

2 Pl. 50.

1, 2. TAWNY WAVE.

3. BRIGHT WAVE.

4, 5. SMOKY WAVE.

6. _ACIDALIA PEROCHRARIA_.

7, 8. SMALL SCALLOP.

9, 10. BLOOD-VEIN.

[Ill.u.s.tration]

2 Pl. 51.

1, 1a, 1b. DINGY MOCHA: _eggs, caterpillars and chrysalis_.

2. MOCHA: _caterpillar_.

{133} This species has been referred to the genus _Sterrha_, Hubner, but authorities are not agreed as to the validity of this.

_Acidalia perochraria._

The species last referred to as _A. ochrata_ was formerly known in Britain as _pallidaria_, and was figured by Curtis in 1831 under that name.

Afterwards the name was changed to _perochraria_, and later still the correct name was found for it.

How far there may have been confusion of the two species in the records of the present one, I have no means of ascertaining, but probably all but two should properly refer to _ochrata_. The only two known British specimens of _perochraria_ therefore appear to have been captured in the Redhill district of Surrey, one in 1865 and one in 1869. As will be seen on reference to Plate 50, where a portrait of a Continental specimen will be found (Fig. 6), the general colour is much brighter than that of _ochrata_.

It will be noted, also, that there are four darker cross lines on the fore wings, and three on the hind wings. The antennae, too, of the male are toothed, and therefore differ from these organs in _ochrata_.

THE SMALL SCALLOP (_Ania emarginata_).

As will be noted on turning to Plate 50, Figs. 7, 8, the male of this pale ochreous brown species is generally rather larger than the female, and the more ample wings are less acutely angled in outline; the latter s.e.x is also more clouded with reddish brown.

The caterpillar is variable in colour; one form is of a dusky ochreous colour with a pale line along the middle of the back, edged on each side with a darker tint, and most conspicuously {134} so on the hinder rings; the back is also dotted with black, and has some dark V- or X-shaped marks upon it; the body tapers to the notched dark-brown head. It feeds on bedstraw (_Galium_), convolvulus, etc., and, like others of its tribe, has a taste for withered leaves. August to May or June, according to the season. In confinement it has been induced by warmth to feed up quickly, and appear as a moth the same year. Only a short time is pa.s.sed in the chrysalis stage. July is perhaps the best month for the moth, but it may be seen at any time from late June to early August. Its haunts are fens, marshes, and moist woodlands, etc., and although it is more frequent in the south, it is widely spread throughout England, but in the north it is rare, and its occurrence more or less casual.

In Wales it has been recorded from Glamorgans.h.i.+re and Flints.h.i.+re; but it is apparently unknown in Scotland and Ireland.

THE BLOOD-VEIN (_Timandra amata_).

The stripe across the wings of this pretty species (Plate 50, Figs. 9 and 10), extending from the apex of the fore wings to near the middle of the inner margin of the hind wings, is normally pinkish red, but it may be of a more crimson or purplish hue; it also varies in width. The fringes are usually pinkish red, and occasionally the margins of the wings are tinged with the same colour. The whitish-ochreous ground colour is normally finely powdered with grey, but sometimes so thickly that a greyish tinge is imparted to the wings. Barrett mentions a specimen with pale smoky brown wings, and, excepting that the tips of the fringes are tinged with pink, the usual markings are absent. In another example, ”the s.p.a.ce between the central and second lines is filled up with purple brown.”

The caterpillar is brownish grey, with three whitish lines on the back, the central one intersecting a series of four dark {135} lozenges. It feeds on various low-growing plants, such as persicaria, orach, sorrel, etc., but dock seems to be the most frequently selected pabulum. July to May, sometimes feeding up and appearing as a second generation of the moth in August.

Weedy ditches, hedge banks, or moist waste places, are the favourite resorts of the moth; and when one example is flushed from its lurking place, others are almost certain to be hiding in the immediate vicinity.