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
The striking feature of the bluish-black moth shown on Plate 120, Figs. 1,
2, is the brownish centred white reniform {240} stigma. Except that the
yellowish submarginal line is sometimes obscured, the species is very
constant in the British Isles. Abroad, a form without the white mark is
known as _unicolor_, Staud., and one or two examples have been recorded as
occurring in England, two in 1895 said to have been reared by a northern
collector from caterpillars obtained in the London district. The
caterpillar figured on Plate 129, Fig. 2, was pale green with darker green
markings. In another form the colour is pale brown with the markings darker
brown. It is found from August to October on all sorts of low plants, and
in the garden, where it is often common in the suburbs of London, is very
fond of the foliage of _Anemone japonica_ and lupin, among other plants.
The moth is out in July and August, but is not often common north of the
Midlands, though it occurs, or has been found in almost all the counties of
England. Its occurrence in Scotland seems to be doubtful, and Kane states
that it is rare in Ireland, and almost absent from the northern counties.
Its range abroad extends to China and Japan.
THE WHITE COLON (_Mamestra albicolon_).
Two specimens of this species are shown on Plate 120, Figs. 7, 8. It will
be noted that, except for the two white dots at the lower outer edge, the
outline of the reniform mark is very obscure; these dots are placed one
below the other, thus forming a :, hence the English name of the moth.
Blackish specimens have been obtained on the east coast of Scotland.
The caterpillar is green or bluish grey, with a dark-edged pale central
line; spiracles white, margined with black. Barrett states that it feeds in
June and July, and probably as a partial second generation in September, on
plantain, dandelion, and other low plants growing in sand; probably also on
_Atriplex_, _Chenopodium_, and Cruciferæ; but it is a larva of secret
habits and is very little known.
[Illustration]
Pl. 118.
1, 1a. LARGE YELLOW UNDERWING: _eggs and caterpillar_.
2. LESSER YELLOW UNDERWING: _caterpillar_.
3, 3a. LESSER BROAD-BORDER: _caterpillar and chrysalis_.
4, 4a. BROAD-BORDERED YELLOW UNDERWING: _caterpillar and chrysalis_.
[Illustration]
Pl. 119.
GREY ARCHES MOTH _and varieties_.
{241}
The moth, which flies in May and June, and again in July and August,
frequents sandhills on the west, especially those of Yorkshire, Lancashire,
Cheshire, and Wales. In Norfolk and Suffolk it is found in the Breck Sand
district as well as on the coast, and it also occurs on the coasts of
Dorset, Somerset, Devon, and Cornwall, but seems to be uncommon in most of
these counties. In Scotland it occurs in suitable parts of the east coast
to Aberdeen, and on the west coast to the Clyde; and in Ireland on the
coasts of Kerry, Louth, and Derry.
THE BRIGHT-LINE BROWN-EYE (_Mamestra oleracea_).
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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