(Photo by H. Main.)]
The caterpillar is brown, inclining to blackish or purplish, the raised
spots are black, and occasionally the sides are freckled with orange (Plate
126, Fig. 2, from a coloured drawing by Mr. A. Sich). It feeds in May and
early June on oak, and will also eat hawthorn, birch, and elm.
The moth, which is out in February and March, appears to be local, but has
a wide distribution through England from Durham to Hampshire, and even
Devonshire. It has also been recorded from Denbighshire, North Wales. A
well-known locality is Richmond Park, in Surrey, and here it is found
resting on oak trunks or on the grass stems, etc., under or around the
trees. The male is attracted by light.
RANNOCH BRINDLED BEAUTY (_Nyssia lapponaria_).
The sexes of this species are shown on Plate 134, where Fig. 3 represents
the male, and Fig. 5 the female. It was not known to occur in the British
Isles until 1871, when a male specimen was captured in Perthshire, on April
20 of that year. Mr. William M. Christy, in 1895, bred some moths from
larvae obtained in the Highlands of Scotland, and he sent eggs to Mr. F. W.
Frohawk, who worked out the life history, and described and figured all the
stages from egg to perfect insect (_Entom._ xxviii. 237). In July, 1900 and
1901, Mr. E. A. Cockayne found {298} caterpillars, in Perthshire (Rannoch
district), on ling, heath, and bog-myrtle; and in June, 1904, he published
(_Entom._ xxxvii. 149) some interesting observations on the habits of the
species in its native haunts. The greenish yellow eggs are laid in batches
of 10 to 150 in the dry corollas of the cross-leaved heath, and less
frequently between the stem and sheath of reeds, or in cracks in dead
bracken stems, etc. The caterpillar (Plate 126, Fig. 3) is pale drab,
inclining to a yellowish tint; irregular yellow stripes along the back and
sides, and lines of blackish streaks between the stripes. It will eat
birch, sallow, and hawthorn, in captivity; but in the open it feeds on
heather and bog-myrtle: May-July. The chrysalis is reddish brown, rather
paler on the wing covers (figured on Plate 126 from a photo, twice natural
size, by Mr. H. Main). The moth is out in April and May, and sits on the
twigs of heather and the stems of bog-myrtle. It has only been recorded
from Perthshire, and is there very local, frequenting damp places near
streams.
Mr. A. W. Mera has obtained hybrids from a crossing of this species with
_N. zonaria_.
BELTED BEAUTY (_Nyssia zonaria_).
Two males and a female of this species are depicted on Plate 124 (Figs. 4,
5 [male], 6 [female]). There is variation in the ground colour of the male,
from white to greyish, and the markings are sometimes greyish brown and
sometimes blackish. Kane states that, in Ireland, a large number of
Connemara specimens have the fore wings entirely white, broken by dark
veins, front margin, and three streaks parallel to the outer margin. The
caterpillar is greenish, with dusky grey lines and freckles on the back,
and a yellow stripe low down along the sides; the latter is edged below
with blackish; the underside is black and striped with grey; head, greyish,
freckled with darker. It feeds on sallow, dandelion, dock, plantain,
clover, yarrow, grass, etc.: May to August. (Plate 126, Fig. 4; chrysalis,
Fig. 4a; eggs, Plate 133, Fig. 4.) The moth is out in March and April, and
rests by day on or among herbage. The male has been known to fly in the
sunshine, but its more usual time of flight is the early evening.
[Illustration]
2 Pl. 126.
1. PALE BRINDLED BEAUTY: _caterpillar_.
2. SMALL BRINDLED BEAUTY: _caterpillar_.
3, 3a, 3b. RANNOCH BRINDLED BEAUTY: _egg, natural size enlarged.
caterpillar and chrysalis_.
4, 4a. BELTED BEAUTY: _caterpillar and chrysalis_.
[Illustration]
2 Pl. 127.
1-3. OAK BEAUTY.
{299} The species is locally common on sand hills, on the coast of
Cheshire, Flintshire, and Carnarvon; Wallasey is a noted locality, and the
earliest British specimens were taken in that district about 1832; it also
occurs on the Lancashire coast, in the Liverpool and Blackpool districts.
In Ireland, it was first noted in Co. Antrim, where caterpillars were found
at Ballycastle, and about twenty-two years ago moths were captured at the
same place. Other Irish localities are Achill Island, off the coast of
Mayo; Slyne Head and Roundstone, Connemara coast. There are records of its
occurrence in the Isles of Skye and Tiree.
BRINDLED BEAUTY (_Lycia hirtaria_).
A male and a female are shown on Plate 124 (Figs. 7 [male], 8 [female]),
and these represent the more usual form of the sexes in the London
district. Some specimens are paler, others are darker; and not infrequently
the wings are sprinkled with yellowish.
On Plate 1 (Figs. 4, 6, 8) will be found figures of a female and two male
examples of a large race taken by Mr. H. McArthur this season (1908) at
Aviemore, in Scotland. One of these males is of a remarkable ochreous
coloration, whilst in the other the contrast of grey ground and black
marking is equally striking. The female is blackish sprinkled with
ochreous.
The caterpillar is purplish grey or reddish brown clouded and freckled with
darker, and spotted with yellow on rings 5-8; the first ring is also marked
with yellow in front, the head is freckled with black, and about the jaws
with yellow. It feeds on lime, elm, willow, and fruit trees, especially
plum and pear, {300} in May, June, and July. For the example figured on
Plate 128, Fig. 1, I am indebted to Mr. Norman Riley; an Aviemore example
is shown in colour on Plate 1, Fig. 7. The chrysalis (Plate 128, Fig. 1a)
is dark reddish brown inclining to blackish. The moth comes out in March
and April and is often a common object on tree-trunks, etc., in the London
parks, squares, and gardens. Its range extends over the south of England,
and northwards to Yorkshire and Cumberland, but it is nowhere so plentiful
in England as throughout the Metropolitan area. It occurs in Wales, in
Ireland, and in Scotland up to Inverness.
OAK BEAUTY (_Pachys_ (_Amphidasys_) _strataria_).
The fore wings of this species (Plate 127, Figs. 1-3) are white, sprinkled
and cross lined with black; the first line is bordered inwardly, and the
second line outwardly with brownish; frequently these two lines fall
closely together on the inner margin, and sometimes they are united by a
blackish blotch at this point; the brownish borders of the lines vary in
width, and in some specimens the outer area beyond the second black line is
almost entirely brownish; in other specimens the central and outer areas
are almost free of black speckling, and in such examples the brownish
borders of the lines stand out conspicuously. The caterpillar (Plate 128,
Fig. 2) is usually some shade of brown--greyish, violet, or
purplish--mottled and freckled with a darker hue. It feeds on oak, birch,
and elm, will also eat sloe, plum, rose, etc., and is found from May to
July. In confinement, larvae hatched in early May have gone down to pupate
during the second week in June.
The moth is out in March and April as a rule, but has been noted in late
February, and also in early May. It may be seen resting during the day on
trunks of trees, palings, etc., generally near the ground; when on the wing
at night the male will come to light. Although not generally common it is
widely distributed over England and Wales. In Ireland it has occurred in
Wicklow, Westmeath, and Cork, and has been reared from pupae obtained at
Glenmalure in the former county.
Hybrids resulting from a cross between _strataria_ [male] and _betularia_
[female] have been named _herefordi_, Tutt.
[Illustration]
2 Pl. 128.
1. BRINDLED BEAUTY: _caterpillar and chrysalis_.
2. OAK BEAUTY: _eggs, natural size and enlarged, and caterpillar_.
3. PEPPERED MOTH: _caterpillar_.
[Illustration]
2 Pl. 129.
1-3. PEPPERED MOTH.
{301}
PEPPERED MOTH (_Pachys betularia_).
Typically (Plate 129, Figs. 1 [male], 3 [female]) the wings are white,
"peppered" with black, and with more or less distinct cross lines, also
black. The black speckling varies in amount, in some examples it is almost
absent, whilst in others it is so dense that the wings appear to be black
sprinkled with white. Specimens of the last form are intermediate between
the type and the melanic ab. _doubledayaria_, Milliere (Fig. 2). This black
form, which seems to have been unknown about sixty years ago, is now much
commoner than the type in the South-west Riding of Yorkshire, and has
spread into Lancashire, Cheshire, and southwards to Lincolnshire. On the
wolds of the latter county, and on Cannock Chase, Staffordshire, it is said
to be the dominant form of the species. The aberration also occurs in the
eastern and the southern counties of England to Hampshire. Northwards, the
form has extended to Clydesdale in Scotland, where one was reared from a
caterpillar obtained near Paisley. In Wales _doubledayaria_ is in the
ascendant at Newport, Monmouth, and in Ireland one example of this variety
together with some intermediate and typical specimens were reared from
caterpillars collected at Castle Bellingham, Co. Louth. Possibly the
liberal distribution of the eggs of _doubledayaria_ may have had something
to do with the comparatively rapid extension of this form, at least to
districts far away from its original locality.
What is known as the buff var. of this species dates back to {302} the year
1874, when a buff female, paired with a black male, was captured at Heaton
Park. From the eggs she deposited caterpillars hatched, and in due course
pupated, but the moths reared from them were all either typical, or black.
Some of the female moths were, however, given to other collectors to pair
with black males with the result that buff specimens appeared among the
moths reared by seven collectors. Subsequently, by breeding only from buff
males and females 80 per cent. of this form were said to be obtained. By
the year 1880, however, the race was extinct. In all the examples of the
buff var. that I have seen, including a pair in my own collection, the
ground colour is normal, but the usual black markings of the wings are
brownish buff; I understand, however, that there are specimens in which the
ground colour is ochreous. The vapour of chlorine will change an ordinary
specimen to a buff var.; and it is said that caterpillars reared in an
apartment where this vapour is present will produce these buff varieties.
Mr. Mansbridge has recently described ab. _ochrearia_, and in this form the
typical black markings are present on an ochreous ground. The specimen, a
female, was captured at St. Annes, Lancashire, June, 1891.
Gynandrous examples have been obtained, and seven of these abnormal forms
occurred in a single brood reared from eggs by Mr. A. Harrison.
The caterpillar (Plate 128, Fig. 3, from a photo by Mr. H. Main) is green,
brownish green, or purplish brown; in the green form, which is minutely
dotted with white, there is generally a faint purplish line along the back,
two purplish knobs on ring 8, and a purplish patch enclosing two ochreous
spots on ring 11; the deeply notched head is ochreous, shaded with
purplish; the last ring of the body is tinged with purplish, as also are
the two small points thereon. It feeds, from July to September, on oak,
birch, elm, beech, sallow, plum and other fruit trees; also on rose,
bramble, etc. The moth is out in May and June, {303} sometimes in July. The
species is generally distributed, and sometimes common in the caterpillar
state, but seems to be absent from the Scottish Isles.
WAVED UMBER (_Hemerophila_ (_Synopsia_) _abruptaria_).
[Illustration: Fig. 17.