Towards the end of October, and all through the month of November, you
may often find this handsome moth resting on fences, or on the trunks
of trees. But although it is so brightly coloured you may easily pass
it by without seeing it, for it looks almost exactly like a piece
of dead and withered leaf. The male varies a good deal in markings.
Sometimes, for instance, he has no dark streaks on his wings at all,
but is reddish-brown all over, sprinkled with very tiny blackish dots.
But the female is always grub-like, with such very tiny wings that you
can hardly see them. You can tell her from that of any other of the
“winter moths” by the two rows of large black spots which run all down
her yellowish-brown body.
The caterpillars of this moth are very plentiful indeed. In colour
they are reddish-brown above, with a broad yellow stripe on each side,
and greenish-yellow beneath. They feed upon the leaves of hazel, oak,
birch, sloe, and ever so many other trees and bushes. And if you walk
through a wood in May or June, after a strong wind has been blowing,
you may often see numbers of them swinging in the air, each suspended
from a twig or a leaf by a slender silken thread.
PLATE XL
THE GARDEN CARPET (1)
This is another of our very commonest British moths. You may find it
in dozens, and even in hundreds, in almost any garden, just by shaking
the bushes or the branches of the trees. And very often you may see it
resting on a wall, or on a fence, or fluttering about in a lighted room
at night. It is fond, too, of hiding in outhouses and sheds, or behind
a piece of loose bark on the trunk of a dead tree. In fact, there is
hardly any place where you may _not_ find it, from the beginning of
May until the end of September, and sometimes even later still. And if
you wanted to catch a hundred, or five hundred, or a thousand Garden
Carpets, you could very easily do so.
The caterpillars, of course, are quite as common as the moths. They
are queer little stick-like creatures, and vary very much in colour,
some being grey, and some light green, and some dark green, and some
pale brown. But they always have several arrow-shaped dark markings
upon their backs, with four or five pale blotches behind them. Look for
them on nasturtium leaves, and also on those of cabbage and horseradish
plants.
[Illustration: PLATE XL
1. Garden Carpet
2. Yellow Shell
3. Pebble Hook-tip]
PLATE XL
THE YELLOW SHELL (2)
I really think that this moth is even commoner than the “garden
carpet.” From the beginning of June till the middle of August you can
hardly go into the garden without seeing it. If you look at a fence or
a tree-trunk, there it is sure to be resting with outspread wings. If
you shake a bush or a low plant, or the leaves of a creeper growing
upon a wall, it is certain to fly out. And soon after sunset on any
warm evening you may see it flying about in scores, or even in hundreds.
But although the moth is so very plentiful, one hardly ever sees the
caterpillar. The reason is that it only feeds by night, and hides
away all day long under stones, or beneath small clods of earth, or
at the roots of grass. But if you were to go out with a lantern on a
mild evening towards the end of April, and search carefully on the
grass-stems, you would be able to find it without any difficulty at
all. It is dull green in colour, with a darker stripe along the back,
and two white ones on each side; and underneath its body it generally
has a number of rose-coloured or violet spots.
PLATE XL
THE PEBBLE HOOK-TIP (3)
Five different kinds of “hook-tip” moths are found in the British
Islands, and you can tell them at once by the hook-like tip to their
front wings. The Pebble Hook-tip is by far the commonest of the five.
If you want to find it, the best way to do so is to shake the branches
of birch trees, either in May, or in August, for this is one of the
“double-brooded” moths. That is, they make their appearance twice in
each year, the eggs laid by the spring brood producing moths in the
summer, while those laid by the summer brood produce moths in the
following spring.
The caterpillar of this moth is rather curiously shaped, for its
tail--which it always holds up in the air--is drawn out into quite a
sharp point. It has a grey head and a light green body, with a purple
stripe down the back. It feeds on the leaves of birch trees, and when
it has reached its full size it doubles over a corner of one of the
leaves, fastens it firmly down by means of a number of silken threads,
and then turns into a chrysalis.
[Illustration: PLATE XLI
1. Puss
2. Puss Caterpillar]
PLATE XLI
THE PUSS MOTH (1 and 2)
This fine and handsome moth is called the “Puss,” because, when its
wings are closed, it looks rather like a brindled cat. And there are
two or three smaller moths which are a good deal like it; so these are
known as “Kittens.”
One does not very often see the Puss Moth, although it is quite a
common insect. But you can easily find its caterpillars by looking for
them on the leaves of poplar and willow trees in August. They are most
odd-looking creatures--bright apple-green in colour, with black heads,
and with white and purple stripes upon their backs and sides, and with
the front part of the body drawn up into quite a large hump. In front
of this hump are two big black spots, which might easily be mistaken
for eyes. And at the end of the body are two long, slender horns, from
each of which the caterpillar pokes out a pink, thread-like organ when
it is frightened. These organs look very much like stings, but they
are perfectly harmless, so that you need not be in the least afraid to
handle the insect. And the odd thing is that if two or three of these
caterpillars are shut up in a box together, they nearly always nibble
at one another’s horns.
When the Puss Moth caterpillar is fully fed it creeps into a chink in
the bark, spins a tough silken cocoon, and changes into a chrysalis,
from which the moth appears in the following May.
PLATE XLII
THE LOBSTER (1 and 2)
This seems a very odd name for a moth, doesn’t it? And if you were
to see the moth you would be quite sure to wonder why such a title
should ever have been given to it, for it is not in the very least
like a lobster. But the fact is that it has a most singular-looking
caterpillar, with very long legs, five pairs of large humps on its
back, and the end of its body swollen out to a huge size, with two
curved horns on the top. Really it does look not unlike a lobster with
a very big claw, and a great many people would be quite afraid to touch
it. However, it is perfectly harmless, so that if ever you meet with it
you may pick it up without the least fear of being bitten, or pinched,
or stung.
This very odd caterpillar feeds on the leaves of oak, birch, and beech
trees in August and September. When it has finished growing it spins
two or three leaves together by means of a few silken threads, and
turns into a chrysalis between them, from which the moth hatches out in
the following May or June.
[Illustration: PLATE XLII
1. Lobster
2. Lobster Caterpillar]
[Illustration: PLATE XLIII
1. Buff Tip
2. Buff Tip Caterpillar]
PLATE XLIII
THE BUFF TIP (1 and 2)
Most people know the caterpillar of this moth a good deal better than
they know the moth itself. I dare say that you have often seen it
crawling about in August and September, always walking very fast, as
though it were in a great hurry. It is a big, rather hairy creature of
a dull yellow colour, with a black head, and with nine black stripes
running along its body; and you may find it in numbers, feeding on
the leaves of elm, lime, and willow trees. Very often, indeed, it is
so plentiful that it strips whole branches of their leaves. When it
reaches its full size it comes down from the tree, wanders off to some
little distance, hides away under dead leaves or at the roots of a tuft
of grass, and turns into a dark brown chrysalis, out of which the moth
hatches in the following May or June.
The reason why one sees this handsome moth so very much seldomer than
the caterpillar is that it always rests with its wings folded closely
against its body, in which position it looks just like a piece of
broken stick. But you may often find it clinging to the trunk of an elm
or a lime tree, or to a long grass-stem growing underneath it.
PLATE XLIV
THE FIGURE-OF-EIGHT (1)
You have only to look at this moth to see why its name was given to it,
for on each of its front wings it has two large white spots with two
small dark spots inside them, one above the other; so that they look
very much like the figure 8. But the inner 8 is always a much neater
one than the outer, which has a kind of blurred appearance, just as if
a drop of water had fallen upon it and made the colours run.
This moth is quite a common one in most parts of the country, and
appears on the wing in September. It only flies by night, so that one
does not often see it; but it will sometimes fly into a well-lighted
room on a dark, warm evening if the window is left open. You can find
the caterpillar, however, without any difficulty at all. All that you
have to do is to hunt for it on hawthorn or blackthorn bushes during
May or the early part of June, and there you are almost sure to see
it--a smoky green creature thinly covered with black hairs, and with a
yellow stripe running down its back, and another along each side of its
body. A little later on it spins a neat little cocoon, made partly of
silk and partly of bits of bark and leaf, which it fastens underneath a
twig of its food-plant. And in this it changes into a chrysalis.
[Illustration: PLATE XLIV
1. Figure of Eight
2. Peach Blossom
3. Grey Dagger]
PLATE XLIV
THE PEACH BLOSSOM (2)
This is really a lovely moth, for on each of its olive-brown front
wings it has five large spots, which are coloured exactly like the
petals of a peach. But if it is put away in a collection these spots
very soon fade, unless the insect is kept in the dark, and after a few
months they become almost white.
The caterpillar of this moth is a very odd-looking creature indeed, for
when it is resting on a leaf of its food-plant it only makes use of
its middle feet, and holds both the front ones and the hind ones up in
the air! Besides this, it has quite a row of little humps on its back,
the front one of which is sometimes so large that it forms a kind of
hood, and partly covers the head! You may sometimes find it feeding
on the leaves of bramble bushes growing in woods in August and the
early part of September. When it has grown to its full size it spins
a slight cocoon of silken threads among the leaves, and turns into a
blackish-brown chrysalis, with a sharp little spike at the end of its
body. Out of this the moth hatches in the following June or July.
PLATE XLIV
THE GREY DAGGER (3)
You cannot possibly fail to recognise this moth if you meet with it,
for its front wings are of a light pearly-grey colour, with a number
of black markings upon them, several of which look just like little
daggers laid sideways. It is a very common insect indeed, and all
through June and July you may see it resting on fences, and walls, and
tree-trunks. A little later you may find the caterpillar, which is
quite as easy to recognise as the moth. It has a rather hairy body, a
black head with two yellow stripes upon it, and a black body, with a
broad yellow streak along the back, and a number of small red streaks
on each side, which are curved in the shape of a bow. Besides this,
it has two humps on its back, the front one of which is black, while
the hinder one is yellow; so that altogether it is a very odd-looking
creature indeed. It feeds on the leaves of beech, lime, poplar,
hawthorn, pear, and ever so many other trees, and is fully fed about
the middle of September, when it creeps into some cranny in the bark,
spins a strong silken cocoon, and turns into a chrysalis.
[Illustration: PLATE XLV
1. Large Yellow Underwing
2. Red Underwing]
PLATE XLV
THE LARGE YELLOW UNDERWING (1)
There are several different kinds of Yellow Underwing moths, but this
is by far the commonest of them all. It makes its appearance in June
and July, and although it only flies by night you can easily find it
during the day. All that you have to do is to go to a strawberry bed,
and brush about among the leaves of the plants. Before long you are
quite sure to see one of these moths running quickly about like a mouse
in search of a fresh hiding-place. And, if you try to catch it, it will
take to its wings, fly for a few yards, and then again settle down to
seek some place of concealment among the herbage.
The caterpillars of this moth are very mischievous creatures, for they
eat their way right into the hearts of cabbage and lettuce plants,
and quite spoil them for the table. And as they only feed by night,
and hide away beneath the surface of the ground by day, it is not at
all easy to catch them. They vary a good deal in colour. Indeed, you
may find them of almost any shade, from light yellowish-green to dark
brown. But along the back there is always a yellow stripe, with a dark
line on each side of it, while on the sides there is a row of seven or
eight short black streaks.
You may find these caterpillars from March till the beginning of June.
PLATE XLV
THE RED UNDERWING (2)
As you will see by the illustration, this is a very fine and handsome
moth indeed; but when it is at rest it is very difficult indeed to
see it, for the bright red hind-wings are quite covered up by the
grey front ones, so that it looks exactly like the bark of the trees
on which it is so fond of sitting. If you want to catch it, the best
place to look for it is on the trunks of willow trees, in August and
September. But sometimes you may find it on fences, and just now and
then it will fly through an open window into a well-lighted room by
night.
The caterpillar of this beautiful moth feeds on the leaves of willows,
sallows, and poplars. It is rather oddly shaped, for its back is very
much arched, while its lower surface is almost flat. And, if you touch
it, it only clings more tightly to its foothold, instead of curling
up into a ring and dropping to the ground, as most caterpillars do.
In colour it is ashy-grey, and generally has two dark, wavy stripes
running along the back. When it is fully fed it spins a silken cocoon,
either between two leaves or in a crack in the bark, and changes to a
reddish-brown chrysalis covered with purple bloom, just like that on a
ripe plum.
[Illustration: PLATE XLVI
1. Pine Beauty
2. Old Lady]
PLATE XLVI
THE PINE BEAUTY (1)
This is a really lovely moth, which always comes out in the early
spring. If you want to find it, you should hunt for it on the trunks
of pine trees, about three or four feet from the ground. But you will
have to look for it very carefully indeed, for it is one of the most
difficult of all moths to see. The reason is that when its wings are
folded it looks exactly like a little bit of the tree-trunk from which
the outer bark has been knocked off; so that you might easily look
straight at it from only two or three feet away and yet never notice
it. But after dark it is very fond of feasting upon the sweet juices
of sallow catkins, or “palms,” as so many people call them. And if
you were to shake one of these bushes over an open umbrella on a warm
evening about the beginning of April, you would very likely find a Pine
Beauty lying inside it with its wings folded, and pretending to be dead.
The caterpillar of this moth is either pale brown, or bright green, or
dark green in colour, with five white stripes running along its body,
one on the back, and two on each side. It feeds on the leaves of the
Scotch fir in June and July.
PLATE XLVI
THE OLD LADY (2)
If you were to ask me why this moth should be called the “Old Lady,” I
am not quite sure that I could tell you. But I think the reason must
be that old ladies mostly dress in dark grey, or dark brown, or black,
which are just the colours of the wings of the moth. It is quite a
common insect in most parts of the country, and yet one very seldom
sees it; for it always hides away during the daytime in some dark nook
or cranny, where it is not very easily found. Perhaps the best place to
look for it is inside a boat-house, or a summer-house, or a shed, about
the end of July or during the first or second week in August. And if
you find it, and frighten it away, it will very often come back again
in a short time to exactly the same spot.
The caterpillar of this moth feeds on the leaves of various fruit
trees, on which you may find it in May. It has a smooth, velvety body
of a dingy brown colour, with a number of paler and darker markings,
and on the back is a row of eight dark spots shaped just like lozenges.
[Illustration: PLATE XLVII
1. Pink-barred Sallow
2. Angle-shades
3. Silver Y]
PLATE XLVII
THE PINK-BARRED SALLOW (1)
This is one of the most beautiful of all our British moths, for
its front wings are of the most lovely orange-yellow, with a broad
purple-pink band running across them, and several blotches and spots
of the same colour on each side of it, while the hind-wings are light
yellow, with a darker border. It comes out in September and October,
and the best way to find it is to search on ivy blossoms on a warm,
still evening, by the help of a bull’s-eye lantern. A great many
moths are very fond of these blossoms, and sometimes you may see them
feasting on the nectar in hundreds, or even in thousands, with their
little eyes gleaming like balls of coloured fire in the light of the
lantern. And just here and there among them you are almost sure to
notice a Pink-barred Sallow.
The caterpillar of this moth feeds first of all upon the catkins of
sallow bushes. But when they begin to die off it goes down to the
ground, and feeds upon the leaves of plantains and other low plants
instead. In colour it is reddish-brown, with a number of brown, red,
yellow, and white dots all over its body.
PLATE XLVII
THE ANGLE-SHADES (2)
This is a very common moth indeed, but a very difficult one to see. For
when it is at rest it always folds its yellowish-brown and olive-green
wings closely round its body, and looks so like a shrivelled piece of
dead leaf that it is very hard indeed to believe that it is really a
moth. It is double-brooded, coming out first in May, and then again in
September and October. But it always seems much more plentiful in the
autumn than in the spring, and you can generally find it in numbers by
looking on the blossoms of ivy on a warm evening. And you will notice
that the hairs on the “thorax,” or middle part of its body, are so long
that they form a kind of ruff all round its neck.
The caterpillar of the Angle-shades is either grass-green in colour or
light brown, powdered thickly with tiny white dots, and with a pale
white line running down the middle of its back. It feeds on nettle,
chickweed, primrose, mullein, and other low plants, and when it is
fully grown makes a light cocoon just beneath the surface of the
ground, in which it turns to a shiny reddish-brown chrysalis.
PLATE XLVII
THE SILVER Y (3)
This is a very common moth indeed, and if you walk through a field of
clover or lucerne in August or the early part of September, you may
sometimes kick it out of the herbage at nearly every step that you
take, until Silver Y moths are buzzing about you almost like bees. You
can easily recognise it, for in the middle of each of its front wings
it has a mark shaped something like the letter Y, and looking just
as if it were made of polished silver. And you may also see the moth
flying over flowers in the evening, while after dark it often comes
into a lighted room. Indeed, one really wonders whether Silver Y moths
ever go to sleep at all!
The caterpillar of this moth is shaped very much like that of the
burnished brass, and walks in just the same curious way. It is rather
hairy, and is bright apple-green in colour, with six narrow white lines
running along its back, and a yellow stripe on either side. It feeds
on all kinds of garden herbs and low plants, and when it is fully fed
it spins a white cocoon among the leaves, and turns into a shiny black
chrysalis, from which the moth generally hatches out about three weeks
later.
PLATE XLVIII
THE BEAUTIFUL YELLOW UNDERWING (1)
This is really a most lovely little moth. It is something like a very,
very small “large yellow underwing.” But instead of having the front
wings plain light or dark brown, with hardly any markings at all, it
has them bright red-brown with pure white spots and wavy lines, while
the hind-wings are of the brightest possible yellow, with a broad
edging of glossy black.
If you want to see this very pretty insect, you can easily do so.
All that you have to do is to ramble over a heathy common on a hot,
sunny day in May or June, and you are sure, before long, to notice a
Beautiful Yellow Underwing flying about over the heather. It hardly
looks like a moth. It looks more like a brightly-coloured little bee.
And it flies so quickly that you will have some little difficulty in
catching it.
The caterpillar of this moth feeds on heather and bilberry, and is
bright green in colour, with five white lines running along its body.
Down its back is a line made up of short white streaks. Below this,
on each side, is another line, made up of white spots. And lower down
still is a third line, also made up of spots, which run up and down in
a zigzag. Look for this caterpillar in August.
[Illustration: PLATE XLVIII
1. Beautiful Yellow Underwing
2. Orange Underwing
3. Burnished Brass]
PLATE XLVIII
THE ORANGE UNDERWING (2)
There are really two kinds of Orange Underwings, the light and the
dark. But they come out at the same time, and fly about together, and
are so much alike that it is not at all easy to tell the one from the
other. The time to look for them is about the middle or end of March,
and then, if you go into a large wood on a warm, sunny morning, you
may sometimes see them flying about among birch trees. They are very
fond, too, of visiting sallow, or “palm,” bushes, and sucking the sweet
juices from their golden-yellow catkins. But the moment that the sun
is clouded over they seem to disappear, and you will see them no more
until it begins to shine again.
The caterpillars of both the Orange Underwings are dull green in
colour, with yellow lines on their backs and sides, and when they
walk they hunch their bodies up into loops, just like the “stick”
caterpillars of such moths as the “swallow-tail” and the “willow
beauty.” That of the Light Orange Underwing feeds on aspen, and that
of the Dark Orange Underwing upon birch. You may find both in June and
July.
PLATE XLVIII
THE BURNISHED BRASS (3)
This moth well deserves its name, for across its greyish-brown or
reddish-brown front wings its has two broad bands of golden-green,
which shine just like a piece of highly polished brass. It is
“double-brooded,” coming out first in June and then again in August,
and flies soon after sunset on warm, still evenings. If you want to
catch it, the best place to look for it is over beds of nettles, where
you may often see it flying backwards and forwards until it is too dark
to see at all. But sometimes it will fly through an open window into a
lighted room, and buzz about in the most excited way round the lamp or
the gas-flame.
The caterpillar of this pretty moth feeds upon stinging-nettle,
dumb-nettle, and burdock, and sometimes also upon thistle and wild
mint. When it is not walking it always rests with its front legs held
up in the air, and its body gets stouter and stouter from the head
almost to the tip of the tail. It is apple-green in colour, with a
number of white marks on its back shaped just like the letter V.
Printed by BALLANTYNE, HANSON & CO.
Edinburgh & London
TRANSCRIBER’S NOTES:
Italicized text is surrounded by underscores: _italics_.
Obvious typographical errors have been corrected.
Inconsistencies in hyphenation have been standardized.