THE LIGHT EMERALD (_Metrocampa_ (_Eudalimia_) _margaritaria_).
When quite fresh, this species (Plate 108, Fig. 6) is of a delicate
whitish-green colour, but the green tint is apt to fade or to change
colour, so that the wings are almost ochreous white sometimes.
The eggs shown on Plate 106, Fig. 3, were kindly supplied by Mr. Norman
Riley.
The caterpillar ranges in colour from greenish brown to purplish brown, and
is frequently freckled with a darker shade of the general colour; there is
sometimes a pale patch on rings 6 and 7, and the sides are fringed with
fine bristles along the spiracle area. It feeds, from September to May, on
the leaves of oak, birch, beech, elm, etc., and during the winter will
nibble the bark of the younger twigs, and also eat the buds.
The moth, which is partial to the woodlands, is out in June and July, and
is pretty generally distributed over the British Isles, except the
Hebrides, Orkneys, and Shetlands.
LARGE THORN (_Ennomos autumnaria_).
This fine species was first definitely ascertained to occur in Britain in
1855, but it had been reported as British at a much earlier date, and was
figured by Wood in 1839. Up to 1859 it had only been recorded from the
North Foreland and Margate in Kent, and from Brighton, Sussex. In 1862, a
specimen was taken at Brighton and one at Deal, the latter a female. Two
examples were secured at Gosport, Hampshire, in 1865, and one at Deal in
1867. Then, after an interval of ten years, three were captured in Hants
(Alverstoke), and two years later a round dozen were obtained at Gosport.
During the last thirty years specimens have been recorded from Margate,
Deal, Dover, Folkestone, Hythe, and Ashford (1907), in Kent, from
Chichester, Sussex, and from Shoeburyness, Essex (1898). It has been reared
on several occasions from eggs obtained from captured females, and is still
more frequently bred from eggs deposited by the descendants of wild
parents.
[Illustration]
2 Pl. 108.
1, 2. BARRED UMBER.
3. BARRED RED (GREEN VAR.).
4, 5. BARRED RED.
6. LIGHT EMERALD.
[Illustration]
2 Pl. 109.
1, 3. LARGE THORN.
2, 4, 5. AUGUST THORN.
{271} The eggs are deep olive, with a white ring at one end; and the
caterpillar is brownish in colour, rather shining, and very twig-like. It
feeds on birch, alder, hawthorn, sloe, plum, etc., and has been found on
sycamore and cherry; May to August. The early stages are figured on Plate
106, Figs. 1, 1a. The moth (Plate 109, Figs. 1 [male], 3 [female]), which
varies in colour from pale to deep ochreous yellow, and also in the amount
of purplish brown freckling, usually has the upper part of the outer
marginal area some shade of tawny brown. Specimens of a greyish chocolate
tint have recently been reared by Mr. Newman, of Bexley (Plate 134, Fig.
9). Most of the specimens captured in England have been obtained at light
in the autumn. The range abroad extends to Amurland, Japan, and North
America.
AUGUST THORN (_Ennomos quercinaria_).
The male (Plate 109, Fig. 2) is generally yellower than the female (Fig.
4), and it is in the former sex that brownish or red-brown clouding on the
outer area beyond the second cross line appears most frequently, but it
occurs also in the female (Plate 109, Fig. 5). Sometimes the wings are
partly or entirely dull reddish brown. Two other examples of the type form
showing modification of the cross lines will be found on Plate 111, Figs. 5
[male], 6 [female]. In ab. _carpinaria_, Hubner, the wings are of a reddish
ochreous colour. A hybrid resulting from a crossing of _E. alniaria_ [male]
and _E. quercinaria_ [female] has been named _dartfordi_, Tutt.
The caterpillar (Plate 113, Fig. 3) is generally grey brown, mottled with
reddish or olive; but, according to Fenn, it is {272} sometimes greenish,
without humps or projections. It feeds, in the summer, on lime, birch, oak,
hawthorn, etc. A chrysalis which I took out of its puparium (two leaves
spun together with silk) on July 9, 1907, was green, with the upper surface
tinged with yellowish; a dark-green central line, and a series of
dark-green irregular marks on each side; the tail pointed and furnished
with reddish hooks.
The moth is out in August and September, and may often be seen sitting on
the boles of trees, generally low down. The species is widely distributed
over England, but is much more frequent in the south than in the north. It
has been recorded from Swansea in Wales; from Dumfries, Dunoon, and
Monteith, in Scotland; and from near Derry, Hazlewood (Sligo), Mote Park
(Roscommon), and Clonbrock (Galway), in Ireland.
CANARY-SHOULDERED THORN (_Ennomos alniaria_).
This species (Plate 111, Figs. 1, 2) is generally easily recognised by the
canary yellow coloured hairs of the thorax. The fore wings are yellowish,
sprinkled with purplish grey, and crossed by two curved greyish-brown
lines, which not infrequently fall close together on the inner margin. In
some female specimens that I reared from eggs, received from York, the
wings are more or less tinged with dull tawny brown, especially on the
outer area, and in two of them the thorax is also brownish tinged.
The at first green, and afterwards blackish slate-coloured, egg, with
whitish ring, and the caterpillar are shown on Plate 110, Fig. 2, 2a. The
latter is brownish, mottled with purplish above, and inclining to greenish
below; head, rather paler brown. It feeds, from May to July, on birch,
alder, etc. The moth is out in the autumn, and occurs in suitable woodland
and marshy places over England, Wales, and Scotland to Moray. It has been
found in many parts of Ireland.
[Illustration]
2 Pl. 110.
1, 1a, 1b, 1c. LARGE THORN: _eggs, natural size and enlarged;
caterpillar, chrysalis and puparium_.
2, 2a. CANARY-SHOULDERED THORN: _eggs, natural size and enlarged, and
caterpillar_.
3, 3a. DUSKY THORN: _caterpillar and chrysalis_.
[Illustration]
2 Pl. 111.
1, 2. CANARY-SHOULDERED THORN.
3, 4. DUSKY THORN.
5, 6. AUGUST THORN.
{273}
DUSKY THORN (_Ennomos fuscantaria_).
Figs. 3 [male], 4 [female], Plate 111, represent the usual form of this
species; in some specimens the outer marginal pale purplish-brown shading
spreads inwards over the fore wings to the base; in other examples it is
only seen on the upper part of the outer area.
The caterpillar (Plate 110, Fig. 3) is green, pretty much of the same tint
as the underside of the ash leaf upon which, and the stalks, it rests by
day. In some examples the general colour inclines to pale brown, or reddish
brown. It may be found during the summer, and where the leaves are seen to
have neat round holes in them, these should be examined, when this
caterpillar will probably be found somewhere adjacent. Ash (_Fraxinus
excelsior_) is the usual food, but possibly privet might answer as a
substitute. The moth is out in August and September, and occurs in most
parts of Southern England where the ash flourishes; its range extends into
South Wales, and northwards to Durham and Northumberland. Only doubtfully
recorded from Ireland, and apparently unknown in Scotland.
SEPTEMBER THORN (_Ennomos erosaria_).
This species, shown on Plate 134, Fig. 6, varies in ground colour from pale
ochreous to pale fulvous; the cross lines approach towards the inner
margin, and sometimes the second line is bent inwards below the middle. The
central spot is generally absent, and when present is exceedingly faint.
The twig-like caterpillar is brownish, with a greenish or purplish tinge.
In its infancy it is a smooth-looking creature, but as it advances in
growth knobs and humps appear, the most prominent of which are on rings 2,
5, 8, and 11; on the {274} last ring there are two points. It feeds on oak
chiefly, but will eat birch, lime, etc.: May to July. The moth is out in
August and September, and occurs more or less frequently in most of the
southern counties of England, but is rather scarce in the Midlands and
northwards. It occurs in South Wales, and has been recorded from the south
of Scotland. Very rare in Ireland.
NOTE.--The species of _Ennomos_ are fond of light, and in suitable spots,
gas and electric lamps, in the streets, or even in the house when windows
are open, will attract these moths. Most of the specimens of _autumnaria_
that have been captured in Britain have occurred at light. _Quercinaria_
is, perhaps, less often noted at light than its allies; but, curiously,
this species is more frequently seen at rest on tree trunks, etc., than are
either of the other kinds. Female moths taken at light may not always be in
first-rate condition, but they will probably lay eggs, and should be kept
for that purpose in a chip box. The caterpillars do not hatch out until the
following spring. Put the eggs in a cool place.
EARLY THORN (_Selenia bilunaria_).
The sexes of the spring or typical form are depicted on Plate 112, Figs. 1
[male], 2 [female], and the paler summer form var. _juliaria_ (July Thorn),
Haworth, is represented by Fig. 3. The underside is shown in Mr. H. Main's
photo of the moth in its natural resting attitude.
The caterpillar is orange or reddish brown, sometimes inclining to
purplish; there are pairs of reddish raised points on the back of rings 7
and 8; as will be seen from the accompanying illustration, which is from a
photograph by Mr. Main, the creature, when resting, is very like a twig. It
feeds on birch, alder, sallow, hawthorn, sloe, etc., in May and June, and
again in August and September. The moth is out in April and {275} early
May. In 1905, a male occurred at Carnforth, Lancs., on June 8; the second
generation appears in July and August. A third has been obtained in
captivity, and the moths of this brood are similar to those of the second.
It has happened that the emergence of some moths of the second, or summer,
form has been delayed until the following February, but these remained true
to their race and did not assume the spring form.
[Illustration: FIG. 7.