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 caterpillar will burrow some depth underground before constructing its
pupal chamber. The chrysalis, which is reddish, or blackish-brown in
colour, is figured with the other stages on Plate 13.
The moth usually emerges the following June or July, but there are at least
two records of its remaining in the chrysalis during two winters.
The southern portion of England appears to be the principal British home of
this moth. It is more or less scarce in the midlands and northwards. In
Scotland it has only been recorded from southern counties, and in his
"Catalogue of the Lepidoptera of Ireland," Kane states that he has no
certain record of its occurrence in that country. Widely distributed
through central and southern Europe, extending northwards to south Sweden
and Finland, and eastwards to Amurland, China, and Japan.
THE PINE HAWK (_Hyloicus pinastri_).
Stephens, writing of this species in 1828, remarked that about thirty years
before that date, a specimen "was taken in June at Colney Hatch Wood, and a
second in the neighbourhood of Esher." He also gives Rivelston Wood, near
Edinburgh, as a locality, on the authority of Dr. Leach. A specimen was
stated to have been seen in Cumberland in 1827 or 1828, and up to the year
1877 four other examples were reported, each from a different part of
England. In the year last mentioned a specimen was recorded from
Woodbridge, Suffolk, as taken in a rectory garden the previous midsummer
(since ascertained that the moth was first seen there in 1875); an example
was also found at rest on a tree trunk at Tuddenham, near Ipswich, in July,
1877, and one was reared on August 5, 1876, from a {35} chrysalis found
near Horham Rectory, Wickham Market, Suffolk. In 1878-9, caterpillars were
met with at Leiston, Suffolk; the moth was found in the pine woods around
Aldeburgh, 1881, and as many as forty specimens were taken in July and
August, 1882, and rather more than twenty in August, 1919. In 1895, Lord
Rendlesham, when driving through the fir woods in the neighbourhood of
Woodbridge, noted two specimens in almost the same spot where he had taken
some moths in 1892-93. Mr. F. Mellusson, writing from this district (August
2, 1895), stated that fifteen specimens had been taken, and that others
could have been captured; also that about one hundred larvæ were then
feeding in confinement. He also mentioned that 1895 was the fourth year out
of five that the insect had occurred there. A male moth was found at rest
on an oak trunk near Southwold, Suffolk, on July 29, 1900. On August 13,
1906, the Rev. A. P. Waller saw a worn specimen on a pine trunk in the
rectory garden at Woodbridge. He also noted a pupa on September 30, 1917.
(Plate 12, Fig. 2.)
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account