Volume Ii Part 44 (1/2)

ORANGE MOTH (_Angerona prunaria_).

Typical males of this species are orange and the females pale ochreous, all the wings sprinkled or freckled with purplish grey. (Plate 117, Figs. 1 [male], 7 [female].) Ab. _corylaria_, Thunberg (Figs. 2 [male], {281} 8 [female]), is brownish on the basal and outer marginal areas of the fore wings, and nearly the whole of the hind wings. The typical ground colour appears on the fore wings as a central band, but as a rule this does not quite reach the inner margin. Ab. _pickettaria_, Prout, is a modification of the _corylaria_ form, in which the typical ground appears on the front margin above the brownish basal patch, and also along the outer margin, thus narrowing the brownish border on that area; in one male specimen the right pair of wings were _corylaria_ and the left pair _pickettaria_.

Another modification has the basal and outer marginal areas ”a nondescript grey shade in the male and a golden brown in the female” (ab. _pallidaria_, Prout). Ab. _spangbergi_, Lampa, is of the typical form, but is without the dark freckles. Other aberrations have been named, and at least one gynandrous specimen is known. The eggs, which are laid in June, hatch in about twelve days. The caterpillars feed slowly until September or October, and then hibernate; but it has been noted that when reared in confinement, and supplied with privet, they nibble the stems during the winter.

Occasionally, a caterpillar will feed up and a.s.sume the moth state in the autumn, but the usual habit is to complete growth in the spring, enter the chrysalis state in May, and appear as moths about the end of that month, if in captivity, or in June and July in the open. Various food plants have been given, among which are hawthorn, sloe, plum, birch, lilac, privet, and honeysuckle. The caterpillar is figured on Plate 118, Fig. 2.

The male flies in the early evening, but the female not until later. The species frequents woods, and may be disturbed by day from among the bracken and other undergrowth. It is more or less common in many woods throughout the southern half of England, and its range extends northwards to Yorks.h.i.+re. In Ireland, it has occurred locally in counties Waterford, Cork, Kerry, Limerick, Clare, and Galway. It has been {282} recorded from the Isle of Arran, but not from the mainland of Scotland.

Abroad, the distribution spreads to Amurland, Corea, and j.a.pan.

SWALLOW-TAILED MOTH (_Ourapteryx sambucaria_).

This conspicuous-looking insect (Plate 117, Fig. 6) is frequently seen in gardens, lanes, and the outskirts of woods, pretty well all over England, Wales, and Ireland. In Scotland, it seems to be rare and confined to the south, but has been noted up to Glasgow. Very rarely the cross lines of the fore wings are placed close together, but, except in the matter of size, there is, as a rule, little variation.

The caterpillar, of which a figure, from a coloured drawing by Mr. A. Sich, is given on Plate 118, Fig. 1, is brownish, variegated with reddish or purplish. It feeds, from August to June, on the foliage of hawthorn, sloe, elder, etc., but is especially partial to ivy.

The moth is out in July, and sometimes an odd specimen or two will appear in the autumn; one was captured at Gravesend on October 22, 1904.

The species is represented in Amurland and j.a.pan by the smaller and whiter var. _persica_, Menetries.

SCORCHED WING (_Eurymene dolabraria_).

The crumpled or shrivelled appearance of the wings, coupled with the brown coloration of the streaks and other markings on the wings, no doubt suggested the English name of this species (Plate 117, Fig. 3).

The twig-like caterpillar is brownish, tinged with greenish or reddish, and variegated with darker, especially along the back of the first three rings, the hump on ring 8, and a cross stripe on the last ring. It feeds on oak, birch, and sallow, from July to September.

[Ill.u.s.tration]

2 Pl. 116.

1, 1a, 1b. FEATHERED THORN: _eggs, natural size and enlarged, and caterpillar_.

2, 2a, 2b. SCALLOPED OAK: _eggs, natural size and enlarged, and caterpillar_.

[Ill.u.s.tration]

2 Pl. 117.

1, 2, 7, 8. ORANGE MOTH.

3. SCORCHED WING.

4, 5. BRIMSTONE.

6. SWALLOW-TAILED.

{283} The moth, which inhabits woods, and is out in late May and in June, is sometimes attracted to sugar, but rather more frequently to light. It is, however, far more rarely seen than the caterpillar, which has been obtained in almost every English county up to Yorks.h.i.+re. A specimen of the moth has been recorded from Darlington, Durham, and one at Meldon Park, Northumberland. It occurs in Wales and Ireland, but is hardly known to be found in Scotland.

The range abroad extends to Amurland and j.a.pan.

THE BRIMSTONE (_Opisthograptis luteolata_).

This generally distributed and often common yellow species (Plate 117, Figs. 4 and 5) has the front margin of the fore wings marked with reddish, and occasionally a stripe of this colour extends along the front margin from the base to the tip; the discal mark is whitish outlined in reddish brown; the wavy cross lines are often faint, and not infrequently quite absent. White specimens, ab. _lacticolor_, Harrison, have been recorded from Ches.h.i.+re and Durham, and probably have occurred elsewhere, since I have a specimen said to have been taken in Staffords.h.i.+re; an orange-yellow form has occurred in the last-named county. (Also known as _Rumia crataegata_.)

The twig-like caterpillar is brownish tinged with greenish or purplish; there is a double-pointed hump on the back of ring 6 and smaller projections on 8. It feeds on hawthorn chiefly, but sometimes on sloe, plum, etc. It may be found after hibernation in the spring, and a second generation occurs in the summer.

The moth seems to have been noted in each month from April to August, but it is most frequent in May and June. {284}