CLOUDED SILVER (_Bapta temerata_).
In its silky, white wings this species (Plate 107, Figs. 7 [male], 8
[female]) is similar to the last mentioned. It is, however, rather larger,
and there are greyish clouds on each side of the outer cross line, but
there are no blackish spots on the front edge of the fore wings. The
clouding referred to is heavier and darker in some specimens than in
others, but occasionally, chiefly in the female, is almost absent.
The green caterpillar, when full grown, is ornamented with brown-bordered
reddish spots on the back, but these markings are absent in its earlier
stages. The head is paler than the body, and has a reddish spot on each
side. It feeds, in July and August, on sloe, plum, and bird cherry in this
country, but the continental authors give birch, willow, rose, etc. The
moth is out in May and June, and occurs throughout England and Wales, to
Cumberland; but it is far more frequent in the south than in the north.
Barrett mentions a single specimen from Wigtownshire in Scotland. In
Ireland, Kane states that it is abundant at Clonbrock, Merlin Park, and in
several other localities in Galway; it is not uncommon at Killarney, Kerry;
and a few specimens have been taken at Powerscourt, Wicklow, and Sligo.
The range abroad extends to Amurland and Japan.
COMMON WHITE WAVE (_Cabera pusaria_).
In its typical form (Plate 107, Figs. 10, 11) this white species has three
dark-grey almost parallel cross lines on the fore wings and two on the hind
wings. The first or the second of these lines on the fore wings may be
absent, occasionally both may be missing and the third very faint. Not
infrequently in undersized bred specimens the first line approaches the
second line either throughout its length or near the inner margin, and more
rarely the two are united; in most of such aberrations the tips of the fore
wings are rather more rounded than in typical specimens, and these are
referable to ab. _rotundaria_, Haworth (Round-winged Wave). I have over a
dozen examples of this form, all of which were reared from caterpillars
which had been kept on short rations when nearly mature; in some, the outer
margin of the fore wings is distinctly rounded, but in others it is much
the same as in the larger typical form, and one of these is shown on Plate
107, Fig. 12. The ground colour occasionally assumes a greyish tint, and
sometimes this is tinged with pink; more rarely the general colour is
leaden grey.
[Illustration]
2 Pl. 106.
1. BARRED RED: _caterpillar_.
2, 2a. BARRED UMBER: _egg_, _natural size and enlarged, and caterpillar_.
3. LIGHT EMERALD: _eggs_, _natural size and enlarged_.
[Illustration]
2 Pl. 107.
1-3. CLOUDED BORDER.
4, 5. SCORCHED CARPET.
6. SLOE CARPET.
7, 8. CLOUDED SILVER.
9. WHITE-PINION SPOTTED.
10-12. COMMON WHITE WAVE.
13, 14. COMMON WAVE.
{267} The caterpillar, of which there are two broods, one in July and
another in September, feeds on birch, alder, sallow, etc. It is purplish
brown, spotted with white above, and greenish below on the first three
rings. There is also a green form with purplish brown marks on the back.
(Plate 105, Fig. 3, from a coloured drawing by Mr. A. Sich.) The moth is
out in May, June, and August, and is generally common throughout the
greater part of the British Isles.
Abroad, the range extends to East Siberia and Amurland.
COMMON WAVE (_Cabera exanthemata_).
Somewhat similar to the last species, but sprinkled with ochreous grey; the
fore wings have three greyish cross lines, the first two less regular than
those of _pusaria_, and the outer one distinctly curved; variation in the
lines is pretty much the same as in _pusaria_ and its small form ab.
_rotundaria_. Of the form showing the first and second lines more or less
confluent, I have seven examples reared from collected caterpillars; six
are undersized, but the other is of quite ordinary size (ab. _approximata_,
Haworth); another specimen, also bred, is thinly {268} powdered with
ochreous grey, and the lines are very indistinct. The more usual forms are
shown on Plate 107, Figs. 13, 14.
The caterpillar is green, inclining to yellowish or to brownish; some
purplish-red marks and white-edged black spots on the back; the ring
divisions are yellow, and there are reddish-brown or purplish-red marks on
the sides; the markings vary. It feeds on birch, alder, and sallow, and may
be beaten out at any time from July to September. The moth is out through
the summer from May; its range in the British Isles is very similar to that
of the last species, but it seems to have a preference for moist places.
The distribution abroad extends eastward to Amurland, and a form known as
ab. _schaefferi_, Bremer, occurs in the last-named country, and also in
Corea and Japan.
BARRED UMBER (_Numeria pulveraria_).
Pale ochreous or reddish brown freckled with darker; the central dark
reddish brown band is sometimes much narrowed below the middle; sometimes
only the edges of the band are dark, the enclosed space being but little
darker than the ground colour, or occasionally tinged with greenish; one
example of the latter and two of the former were reared this year (1908)
from larvae received in July, 1907, from Mr. F. Pope of Exeter; a male
specimen bred from the same batch of larvae, but which emerged in August of
the year last mentioned, is distinctly tinged with rosy over all the wings;
the narrow band on the hind wings, not usually extended to the front edge,
is in this specimen entire, whilst the greenish-banded specimen referred to
above is without trace of a band on the hind wings. Two examples which are
without locality, but which, I believe, came from the New Forest, have pale
greyish-brown fore wings banded with brown in which there is a tinge of
olive. Two examples of the male are figured on Plate 108. The eggs (Plate
{269} 106, Fig. 2a) were pale greenish yellow when laid, May 17 to 20; the
larvae hatched out from May 31 to June 2.
The caterpillar, which is also depicted on the plate, is reddish brown,
mottled with yellowish brown. It feeds on birch, sallow, ash, etc., from
June to August.
The moth, as a rule, does not emerge until the following spring, but
sometimes specimens will come out the same year.
Although widely distributed over nearly the whole of the British Isles, the
species seems to be rarely met with in large numbers. The range abroad
extends to Amurland, Corea, and Japan.
BARRED RED (_Ellopia_ (_Hylaea_) _prosapiaria_).
The typical form of this species is depicted on Plate 108, Figs. 4 [male],
5 [female], and Fig. 3 on the same plate represents ab. _prasinaria_,
Hubner, a form not uncommon in Germany (whence came the example figured),
Switzerland, and other parts of the continent, but which is very rare in
Britain, and has been recorded from Kent and Suffolk. Sometimes, but
chiefly in Scotland, the colour varies to a greyish or even yellowish tint;
the cross lines are often parallel or nearly so, and frequently approach
each other about the middle; the usual white edging to the cross lines is
occasionally absent, and the enclosed space in such specimens is hardly
darker than the general colour.
On Plate 106, Fig. 1, will be found a figure of the caterpillar, which is
tawny brown with white-edged, connected reddish marks along the back. It
feeds, from September to May, on Scots pine (_Pinus sylvestris_), and
occasionally on larch. The moth is out in June and July, and sometimes in
September. It may be jarred from the pine boughs, and is not infrequently
seen resting on foliage of the undergrowth. Generally distributed in
fir-woods throughout Great Britain, and widely spread in Ireland.