Volume Ii Part 52 (1/2)

The range abroad extends to East Siberia and Amurland.

YELLOW BELLE (_Aspilates ochrearia_).

As will be seen from Fig. 5 [female] on Plate 144, this species differs from the last in its yellower colour and rather smaller size; the fore wings have two cross bands, generally well defined, but in the male they are sometimes very faint and slender, and specimens have been recorded in which the bands were missing.

The roughened caterpillar, figured on Plate 142, from a coloured drawing by Mr. A. Sich, is pale ochreous brown, lined and striped with darker brown.

It feeds on wild carrot, plantain, {332} hawks'-beard, etc., and will thrive on knot-gra.s.s. There are two broods, one feeding in the spring, after hibernation; and the other in June and July, sometimes later. The first generation of moths flies in May and June, and the second in August and early September. The species occurs in all the southern seaboard counties of England from Kent to Cornwall, frequenting the downs and rough fields near the coast; also in the Sandbreck district of the eastern counties. It occurs in South Wales; and odd specimens have been reported from Ches.h.i.+re (Delamere), and from c.u.mberland.

The range abroad extends to North-west Africa and Asia Minor.

GRa.s.s WAVE (_Perconia_ (_Aspilates_) _strigillaria_).

A male and a female of this species are depicted on Plate 144, Figs. 7 [male] and 8 [female]. There is variation in the amount of dark speckling on the wings, and in the number and width of the cross markings; sometimes the first and second on the fore wings are united throughout their length, or towards the inner margin; coupled with this there is sometimes considerable increase in the width of the first cross marking of the hind wings. A rare variety in Britain is ab. _grisearia_, Staudinger, which is of an almost uniform greyish or greyish-brown colour, with the markings obscured.

The caterpillar is purplish grey, marked with paler and darker; two warts on the back of rings 7-10, the middle pair the largest and most prominent.

It feeds on ling, heath, broom, and the flowers of gorse or furze, and is best obtained in the spring after hibernation.

[Ill.u.s.tration]

2 Pl. 144.

1, 2. GREY SCALLOPED BAR.

3. BLACK-VEINED.

4, 5. YELLOW BELLE.

6. STRAW BELLE.

7, 8. GRa.s.s WAVE.

[Ill.u.s.tration]

2 Pl. 145.

1. TRANSPARENT BURNET: _caterpillar_.

2, 2a. NARROW-BORDERED FIVE-SPOT BURNET: _caterpillar, chrysalis and coc.o.o.n_.

3, 3a. FIVE-SPOT BURNET: _caterpillar and coc.o.o.n_.

4. SIX-SPOT BURNET: _caterpillar_.

5. FORESTER: _caterpillar_.

{333} The moth, which is out in June and July, occurs on most of the heaths and moors throughout England; apparently commoner and more generally distributed in the south than in the north; but it seems to be rare on the eastern side of the country altogether. From Ches.h.i.+re it spreads into Flint and Denbigh, North Wales. In Scotland, it is found in Roxburgh (Bellion Moor), Clydesdale (local, but common), and northwards to Ross. It is found on the boggy heaths of Ireland, and Kane states that it is abundant where it occurs.

The range abroad extends to Scandinavia and eastward to Asia Minor.

ZYGaeNIDae.

The moths belonging to this family are popularly known in Britain as Burnets and Foresters. Of the former seven kinds occur in the British Isles, and of the latter there are only three species.

All the species live in colonies, so that when a specimen is seen or captured others may be expected to occur on, or somewhere around, the same spot. The caterpillars bear a close resemblance to each other, and are not always easily distinguished.

Over thirty species of _Zygaena_ are found in Europe, and about thirty-six more have been described from other parts of the Palaearctic Region. There are at least twenty-five Palaearctic species referred to the genus Ino, and about ten of these are European.