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 moth flies in March and April, and generally occurs only in oak woods.
It is most frequently met with in the South of England--from Middlesex and
Essex to Hampshire; but it occurs in most of the southern counties, and
also northwards {328} up to Yorkshire. It has been found in Wales (Pembroke
and Dolgelly), and appears to be rare in Ireland, except at Glenmalure, Co.
Wicklow.
THE SMALL QUAKER (_Tæniocampa pulverulenta_).
Most specimens of this species (Plate 158, Figs. 9[male], 10[female]) have
the fore wings pale greyish ochreous, more or less mottled or dusted with
reddish brown. Occasionally these wings are pale grey (var. _nana_,
Haworth); or dark grey brown and more rarely blackish. The dingy brownish
dots representing the first and second cross lines are sometimes distinct
and not infrequently absent.
The egg is whitish with brown girdled dot.
The caterpillar is greenish grey and rather greener between the rings;
there are five yellow or whitish lines, that along the centre of the back
being the broadest, usual dots black and glossy; head greenish, much marked
with black: plates on first and last rings of the body black. It feeds from
April to June on oak, hawthorn, sallow, rose, etc. (Plate 159, Fig. 2.) The
moth flies in March and April, and is a constant visitor to the sallow
catkins, also to the blossoms of plum, damson, and sloe. It appears to be
common throughout England and Wales; more or less frequent in Scotland to
Moray; and is not uncommon in some districts of Wicklow and Galway, but
local and rather scarce in other parts of Ireland.
THE COMMON QUAKER (_Tæniocampa stabilis_).
The ground colour of the fore wings of this species (Plate 158, Figs. 1, 2)
ranges from whitish or pale grey brown through tints of reddish brown to
dark brown; the stigmata are outlined in pale ochreous, the centres often
darker than the general colour of the wings; the orbicular is of large size
and frequently {329} touches the reniform; the ochreous submarginal line is
usually inwardly edged with, and sometimes obscured by, blackish; very
often the submarginal line and the dusky central shade are the only
distinct cross markings.
The caterpillar is green, minutely dotted with yellow; three lines on the
back, and a stripe on the sides, yellow, the latter most distinct, edged
above with black, and united by a yellow bar on the last ring. It feeds on
oak, birch, sallow, beech, elm, etc., from April to June. The moth flies in
March and April, and is generally common throughout the British Isles,
except, perhaps, the islands of Scotland.
THE LEAD-COLOURED DRAB (_Tæniocampa populeti_).
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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