Volume Ii Part 55 (1/2)
7. LUNAR HORNET MOTH.
[Ill.u.s.tration]
2 Pl. 155.
1. YELLOW-LEGGED CLEARWING.
2, 3. RED-BELTED CLEARWING.
4. LARGE RED-BELTED CLEARWING.
5. RED-TIPPED CLEARWING.
6. SIX-BELTED CLEARWING.
7. THRIFT CLEARWING.
8, 9. FIERY CLEARWING.
{351} The caterpillar is yellowish white, with a red brown head, and a yellow plate on the first ring of the body. It feeds on the roots and lower portion of the trunks of poplar. The brown s.h.i.+ning chrysalis is enclosed in a coc.o.o.n of wood sc.r.a.pings woven together with silk. The moth is out in May and June; and has been found, newly emerged, sitting on stems of poplar in the morning.
The eastern counties of England appear to be most favoured by this species, but it also occurs northwards to Yorks.h.i.+re, southwards to Devons.h.i.+re, and a specimen has been recorded from Rhyl, North Wales. In Scotland, it has been reported from some localities in the south; Kane states that he has reason to believe that the species occurs in the northern half of Ireland, and that he found caterpillars plentiful in young poplars growing in a marsh near the city of Waterford.
LUNAR HORNET (_Trochilium crabroniformis_).
Another hornet-like moth, best distinguished from that just mentioned by the yellow collar behind the black head (Plate 154, Fig. 7 [female]). The male is rather smaller, but otherwise similar.
The caterpillar is yellowish white, with dark brownish head, and a blackish edged yellow plate on the first ring of the body. It feeds in stems of sallow, willow, and poplar. In late June and through July the moth is on the wing, and may occasionally be seen at rest on leaves or stems of sallow, etc.
The species, known also as _bembeciformis_, Hubner, is generally distributed throughout England, Wales, and Ireland; in Scotland its range extends into Perths.h.i.+re.
Abroad it seems pretty much confined to Holland, Northern and Central Germany, Austria, and Bohemia.
CLEAR UNDERWING (_Sciapteron tabaniformis_).
This species is the _Trochelium vespiforme_ of some British authors, and the _aegeria asiliformis_ of Stephens and others.
Another English name for it is the Dusky Clearwing, and this refers to the cloudy fore wings. {352}
Stephens, writing of it in 1828, remarks: ”Occasionally taken on poplars, near London, in June. I have obtained it from the neighbourhood of Bexley, and from Birchwood; but it is doubtless a rare species, and exists in few collections: of the male, I have hitherto seen but two specimens, one of which I possess.” Both places mentioned by Stephens are in Kent, and one or two specimens of the species have since been reported from Ashford in the same county. The late Henry Doubleday took specimens at Epping, Ess.e.x.
Colney Hatch Wood in Middles.e.x has also been given as a locality in the past; more recently two specimens have been noted from Chiswick. The example shown on Plate 154, Fig. 4, is of continental origin.
The caterpillar lives under the bark of poplar trunks, and the moth flies in June and July.
WELSH CLEARWING (_Sesia scoliaeformis_).
As a British species this insect was first noted from Llangollen, in North Wales, somewhere about fifty years ago. In 1867 it was found to inhabit birch woods in the Rannoch district of Scotland, and later on its presence was detected in Sutherlands.h.i.+re. It has been recorded from Hereford; one example was reported from Wilts.h.i.+re in 1857; and two from Delamere Forest, Ches.h.i.+re (1901 and 1905). Kane (_Catalogue of the Lepidoptera of Ireland_) states that moths have been taken at Killarney, and caterpillars obtained in the same district, and also at Kenmare.
The caterpillar (Plate 156, Fig. 3; after Hofmann) feeds on the inner layer of bark of large birch trees, and is full grown about May. It turns to a dark brownish chrysalis, in a coc.o.o.n formed close up to the bark, which thinly covers the outer end of the burrow. The moth flies in June or sometimes July. It {353} is of comparatively large size, and may be distinguished from the next species by the yellow belts on its body, and the chestnut coloured tuft at the tail. (Plate 154, Fig. 2.)
WHITE-BARRED CLEARWING (_Sesia spheciformis_).
Although generally smaller, some specimens run very close to the last species in size. It may be distinguished by the single belt on the body and the black tail (Plate 154, Fig. 3). One of the best known localities for the species in England is Tilgate Forest, in Suss.e.x; but it also occurs in Hamps.h.i.+re (Basingstoke), Hereford (Tarrington), Worcesters.h.i.+re (Wyre Forest), Staffords.h.i.+re (Burnt Wood), Ches.h.i.+re (one, Delamere Forest, 1901), Denbighs.h.i.+re (Llangollen), Lancas.h.i.+re (Chat Moss), and Yorks.h.i.+re (Bishop's Wood, 1894).
The caterpillar feeds in stems of alder, and is full grown in May of the third year after hatching from the egg. It is said that the chrysalis may sometimes be found by bending and twisting the stems of alder, so as to cause the thin skin of bark over the exit hole of the burrow to crack, and so disclose its whereabouts. The burrow is generally low down the stem. The moth is out in June and early July, and is sometimes to be seen on sunny mornings at rest on alder leaves, or flying over and around the bushes.
ORANGE-TAILED CLEARWING (_Sesia andrenaeformis_).