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 fore wings of this moth (Plate 155, Figs. 5, 6) are purplish red and
more or less suffused with greyish. Sometimes these wings are more
distinctly reddish and without the greyish suffusion (var. _rufa_, Haw.).
The egg is pale straw colour, with a reddish-brown girdled dot. The
caterpillar (Plate 159, Fig. 3) is pinkish brown with three yellowish lines
along the back, the central one rather obscure; a yellowish stripe along
the sides; usual dots yellowish or whitish margined with blackish; head
yellowish brown, lined with darker brown. It feeds from April to June on
dock, dandelion, groundsel, and other low plants. The moth is out in March
and April, and is often not uncommon at sallow and plum blossom. It seems
to be pretty generally distributed throughout the British Isles, including
the Orkneys.
THE HEBREW CHARACTER (_Tæniocampa gothica_).
This species (Plate 155) varies in the general colour of the fore wings
from pale purplish grey to dark reddish brown. Figs. 7[male] and 8[female]
represent the more usual form. The black markings, often very conspicuous,
are in the somewhat smaller var. _gothicina_, reddish (Fig. 9). Sometimes
in Scotch specimens they are very indistinct or absent (Fig. 10).
The early stages are figured on Plate 156. The eggs (Fig. 1a) are laid in a
batch, two deep towards the centre of the {327} heap. In colour they are
whitish with a dark grey ring and dot. When five days old the young
caterpillars were pale whitish green with black dots; head and plates on
first and last rings of the body black. The nearly full-grown caterpillar
(Fig. 1) is green above and yellowish green below; three whitish lines on
the back and a yellowish stripe along the sides; usual dots black, ringed
with whitish; head shining yellowish, dotted with black. Feeding on dock,
dandelion, etc., it will also eat sallow and hawthorn, and the foliage of
other trees and bushes, in April, May, and June. The moth is common at
sallow bloom all over the British Isles. The range of the species abroad
extends to Amurland.
THE BLOSSOM UNDERWING (_Tæniocampa miniosa_).
A portrait of this species will be found on Plate 158, Fig. 8. The fore
wings are pinkish, or reddish grey, and the redder central area is often
tinged with orange; the hind wings are whitish, faintly shaded or tinged
with pink.
The full-grown caterpillar is bluish, inclining to black on the sides;
three yellow lines on the back, the central one broad; and a white blotched
yellow stripe along the sides; head shining black. (Adapted from Fenn.) The
eggs are laid in batches on the twigs of oak, usually just below a bud.
When the caterpillars hatch out they spin a web of silk under which they
live in company for a time; later on they separate, and then either
continue to feed on the oak or betake themselves to birch, hawthorn,
bramble, or some low-growing herbaceous plant. The "nests" of young
caterpillars are found chiefly on oak bushes rather than trees.
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