The Moths of the British Isles, First Series: Comprising the Families Sphingidæ to NoctuidæSouth, Richard
History
The Moths of the British Isles, First Series: Comprising the Families Sphingidæ to Noctuidæ
South, Richard
Lepidoptera -- Great Britain; Moths -- Great Britain
It feeds, in the sunshine, on the black and yellow lichens growing in the
haunts of the species, which are edges of cliffs and rough stony places
near the sea, and also on hillsides. The species occurs, perhaps, more
abundantly on the Kentish and Sussex coast than inland, but it is certainly
not confined to the cliffs at Dover and Folkestone in Kent, or at Ventnor,
Isle of Wight. Among inland localities for it are Box Hill, Ranmore,
Reigate, and other places on the Surrey hills. It has also been recorded
from the Cotswolds in Gloucestershire; the Isle of Man; St. Davids, South
Wales; Aberdeenshire, Sutherlandshire, and the Tweed, Tay, Clyde, and
Argyll districts in Scotland. For Ireland, Kane gives Mayo; "Ardrahan,
County Galway, and west through the Burren of Clare, widely spread."
THE FOUR-DOTTED FOOTMAN (_Cybosia mesomella_).
Fore wings pale creamy white, the margins yellowish: a black dot near the
costa, and another below near the inner margin; hind wings suffused with
blackish grey. Rarely the fore wings are yellow with a whitish central
shade, and the hind wings are yellowish. (Plate 95, Figs. 8, 10.)
The caterpillar is velvety blackish grey; warts thickly set with densely
feathered blackish hairs. Feeds in April and May, after hibernation, on
lichens growing among heather. In confinement it will, according to
Buckler, eat heather and fresh or withered leaves of sallow.
Fairly well distributed over England. It appears to be absent from Ireland,
but in Scotland it is known to occur in the Clyde, Solway, and Moray
districts, and has been recorded from Aberdeenshire. In the South of
England it affects heaths and the more open woods; sometimes not uncommon
in {179} such places. The moth, in June, may be disturbed from bushes, or
put up from the heather as one walks through. As the sun goes down it may
often be seen on the wing, but later in the evening is its chief time of
activity. In Lancashire and Cheshire it is found on the mosses, and Cannock
Chase in Staffordshire is a noted locality for it. Still obtained in
Chippenham fen, but Barrett states that it is now supposed to be extinct in
the fens of Wicken, Yaxley, and Burwell, in all of which it used to abound.
THE FOUR-SPOTTED FOOTMAN (_Oeonestis quadra_).
The sexes of this species are very different in appearance. The fore wings
of the male are grey tinged with yellowish, except on the outer fourth; the
basal fourth is yellow. The female is larger and yellow in colour; each
fore wing has two black spots, sometimes unusually large, sometimes mere
dots, and more rarely absent altogether. (Plate 95, Figs. 11, 12.)
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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