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 popular name applies more especially to the ordinary form of this
species known as _arundineta_, Schmidt. (Plate 144, Fig. 8.) The dark brown
or black typical form (_dissoluta_, Treit. = _hessii_, Boisd.) is local and
uncommon; in fact until 1900 it had not been noted in England for a number
of years, and specimens were only known from Yaxley. In the year just
mentioned however, several examples of it were recorded from Suffolk, taken
in the Needham Market district; and in 1905 specimens were reported from
the East Kent marshes. Var. _arundineta_, the _neurica_ of some authors,
occurs in the fens of Norfolk, Suffolk, Cambridge, and Lincolnshire; also
in marshes in Essex and Kent; and is said to have been taken in Middlesex
and Lancashire. The caterpillar is dirty white, light reddish on the back;
raised dots black inclining to brown on front three rings; spiracles white
edged with black; head dark brown; plate on first and last rings of the
body brownish grey. It feeds in June in the stems of reed and turns to a
chrysalis in the lower part of the stem, head downwards in the direction of
the exit hole below it. (Plate 148, Fig. 1.) The moth flies in July and
August.
[Illustration]
Pl. 144.
1, 2. FROSTED ORANGE MOTH.
3. WEBB'S WAINSCOT.
4. REED WAINSCOT.
5. BULRUSH MOTH.
6, 7. TWIN-SPOTTED WAINSCOT.
8. BROWN-VEINED WAINSCOT.
9. FENN'S WAINSCOT, 10. _aberration sinelinea._
[Illustration]
Pl. 145.
1, 2. LARGE WAINSCOT.
3, 4. FEN WAINSCOT.
5, 6. FLAME WAINSCOT.
7, 8. SILKY WAINSCOT.
9, 10, 11. SMALL RUFOUS MOTH.
12, 13, 14. SMALL WAINSCOT.
{299}
THE SMALL RUFOUS (_Coenobia rufa_).
Varies from pale ochreous white, through reddish shades, to a greyish
brown. (Plate 145, Figs. 9 to 11.) The caterpillar is described by Hofmann,
as pale reddish above and whitish below, with minute dark dots on the back
and a fine blackish line along the sides; head and plate on first ring of
the body brown and glossy. May and June, in stems of the jointed rush
(_Juncus lamprocarpus_). The moth flies in July and August, and occurs in
fens and marshes. At one time it was not uncommon in marshy localities
around London, and it is still to be obtained in Richmond Park, Surrey. In
some years it abounds in the Norfolk and Cambridge fens, and in others is
hardly seen. It is also to be found more or less frequently but always
local in Suffolk, Essex, Berks, Kent, Sussex, Isle of Wight, Dorset (Isle
of Purbeck), Devon, Somerset, Gloucester, North and South Wales, Cheshire,
and Yorkshire; Argyllshire in Scotland; Ireland.
THE SILKY WAINSCOT (_Senta maritima_).
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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