Volume Ii Part 25 (1/2)

The caterpillar is green, inclining to yellowish, and more or less tinged with pinkish, especially on the sides; three lines on the back, the central one reddish, the others whitish; a central line along the pinkish spiracles. It feeds at night on yellow balsam (_Impatiens noli-me-tangere_), preferring the flowers, {164} seeds, and young foliage, and rests by day on the undersides of the leaves: September and October.

(Plate 64, Fig. 2, after Hofmann.)

The moth is out in July and August, and, of course, will only be found in localities where the balsam flourishes; these are very limited, and in Britain are confined to Westmorland and the northern border of Lancas.h.i.+re, and North Wales. The species was first introduced as British in 1861, when the late Henry Doubleday recorded the capture of three specimens in August, 1856, on the border of one of the lakes in Westmorland, by his friend the late Thomas H. Allis. It seems that other specimens had been taken at the same time, but these pa.s.sed into collections as the ”second brood of _silacearia_.” The caterpillar is said to have been found in North Wales, but has been more frequently obtained in the English Lake District.

The range abroad extends to Eastern Siberia, Amurland, Corea, and j.a.pan; but in the three last-named countries it is chiefly represented by var.

_aerosa_, b.u.t.t., a large form.

THE PHOENIX (_Lygris prunata_).

The English name here retained was given to this species (Plate 63, Figs. 1 [male], 2 [female]) by Harris, in 1775, but in 1782 he changed it to ”Clouded Carpet.”

In ground colour the fore wings are pale brown, more or less clouded with darker brown, or with reddish-brown; the basal patch, central band, and blotch on outer margin below the tip of the wing, are all chocolate brown clouded with blackish and edged with white. Hind wings, whitish, suffused with smoky grey, except on front area; three dusky whitish-edged wavy lines, inclining to blackish on the inner margin. The egg (Plate 67, Fig.

3) is yellowish when laid, and then changes to purplish with a whitish bloom.

The caterpillar is green, varying to brownish; along the {165} middle of the back is a series of purplish-edged, brown-centred, whitish, triangular markings; the third ring is swollen, and has a black collar. It feeds at night on the foliage of red and black currant, also on gooseberry, and may be found in April and May, earlier or later according to season, sitting by day upon the bushes.

The moth flies in July and August, and occurs in gardens, but is said to be partial to sloe bushes and hedges. It is always more or less local, although it is distributed over the greater part of the British Isles.

This species occurs in the Northern United States of America.

THE CHEVRON (_Lygris testata_).

The fore wings of this rather variable species (Plate 63, Figs. 5-7) are yellowish or reddish grey, with a darker basal patch and central band; a reddish blotch below the tip of the wing is edged with white, and the central band is also outwardly edged with white. Hind wings, whitish, with two lines, and dusky hind marginal border, the latter sometimes inclining to reddish. Occasionally, the fore wings are entirely pale ochreous, and the basal patch and the central band only very slightly darker, but the limiting lines are reddish, and the patch under the tip of the wing is bright orange red. Var. _insulicola_, Staud., from the isles of Scotland, has the fore wings rather narrower, and suffused with purplish brown or deep violet grey; the hind wings are smoky grey. The female is usually smaller than the male, and often more yellow in colour.

Eggs, whitish brown, mottled with darker. The early stages are shown on Plate 67, Figs. 2-2b.

The long caterpillar is pale yellowish brown, with three lines along the back, the central one dark brown, and most distinct at each end; the others are white, irregularly shaded above {166} with reddish; another white line along the region of the spiracles. It feeds, in May or June (earlier or later in some seasons), on sallow and birch. The moth is out in July and August, and frequents heaths and bogs more especially, but is also found in or around woods, and I have captured male specimens as they flew along hedgerows bordering fields, at dusk, in Middles.e.x. The female is rarely seen on the wing.

The species, which ranges through Central and Northern Europe to the Ural and Altai, is generally distributed throughout the British Isles; it is found also in the Atlantic States of America.

NORTHERN SPINACH (_Lygris populata_).

The fore wings are yellow, with a reddish or purplish-brown basal patch, central band, and small patch on outer margin below tip of the wing, the central band more or less clouded or mottled with yellow. Hind wings, whitish, tinged with yellow. The female is usually smaller, the colour generally paler, and the markings frequently only represented by cross lines. Specimens from the Isle of Arran have the ground colour of fore wings more or less dappled with brown of the same tint as that of the central band and other markings; the hind wings are tinged with a smoky hue. In other parts of Scotland the brown colour becomes more and more general, until the fore wings are uniformly brown, and the hind wings dusky. On the mountains in the north nearly black specimens occur, and these seem to be referable to ab. _musauaria_, Freyer. (Plate 63, Figs.

8-10.)

The long caterpillar is variable in general colour, brown, mottled with greyish, pale grey, reddish brown, or yellowish green; all have darker or whitish lines along the back, and whitish or pinkish triangles or X-marks.

It feeds, in May and June (earlier in some localities, and later in others), on bilberry, crowberry, and sallow; it may also be reared on willow.

[Ill.u.s.tration]

2 Pl. 64.

1. DARK UMBER: _caterpillar_.

2. NETTED CARPET: _caterpillar_.

[Ill.u.s.tration]

2 Pl. 65.

1, 2. THE SPINACH.