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
Pl. 99.
1, 2. HOARY FOOTMAN.
3, 4. PIGMY FOOTMAN.
5. DOTTED FOOTMAN.
6, 7. ORANGE FOOTMAN.
{181} Caterpillar, greyish, or greenish grey, freckled with darker, hairs
grey inclining to brownish; a broad creamy or yellowish stripe, edged with
black and traversed by a dark central line along the back. Head blackish
and glossy. From August to June on lichens growing on stems and branches of
yew, oak, and beech.
A local species, and although recorded now and then from several other
parts of the country, and once from Killarney in Ireland, seems to be
pretty much confined to the counties of Surrey, Sussex, Hants, Dorset, and
Devon. The moth, which is out in July, rests during the day upon the boughs
and among the foliage of oak, beech, and yew, the latter especially in the
Dorking district of Surrey.
Distribution: Central Europe, Southern Scandinavia, Livonia, Northern
Italy, Roumelia, and Russia.
THE DINGY FOOTMAN (_Lithosia griseola_).
Haworth's English name for this moth was the "Dun Footman." In its typical
form the fore wings are pale greyish with a yellowish front edging; the
latter most distinct towards the base; the hind wings are whitish ochreous
more or less suffused with grey. The pale form, var. _flava_, Haw. =
_stramineola_, Doubl. at one time considered a distinct species (the
Straw-coloured Footman of Haworth), has pale straw-coloured fore wings and
white ochreous hind wings. (Plate 97, Figs. 4, 5.)
Caterpillar, sooty brown, with a darker line down the middle of the back
and an interrupted yellow or orange line or stripe on each side of it; dark
brown hairs arising from dark warts; head glossy black (described from a
skin). It may be looked for in the spring months on the lichens affecting
alders and sallows growing in fens and marshy places. (Plate 98, Fig. 2.)
The moth is abundant in the Cambridge and Norfolk fens, and is common in
boggy places in the New Forest, but it probably occurs in all suitable
places throughout England and Wales. It does not seem to have been observed
in Ireland, {182} but has been recorded from Moray in Scotland. The yellow
variety, which by the way is not known to occur abroad, is found, with the
ordinary form, chiefly in the Norfolk fens and in the New Forest; but it is
also to be obtained, though less frequently, in Surrey (Weybridge
district), Berkshire (Reading district), and still more rarely elsewhere.
It is out in July.
Distribution: Central Europe, South Russia, Ural, Altai, Amurland, Corea,
Japan, and West Africa.
THE COMMON FOOTMAN (_Lithosia lurideola_).
Fore wings, leaden grey with a yellow stripe terminating in a point at the
tip of the wing; the hind wings are pale ochreous yellow. It appears in
July, sometimes at the end of June.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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