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
Widely distributed throughout the British Isles, but seems to have a
preference for fens and marshy ground. It occurs all over Central and
Northern Europe, its range extends through France to Spain, Italy, and
Corsica, and it has been recorded from Armenia and Amurland. {72}
THE IRON PROMINENT (_Notodonta dromedarius_).
The specimen shown on Plate 31 is from Surrey, and represents the form most
frequently obtained in the south of England. Northwards the species becomes
darker in colour, and the reddish and yellow marking much reduced. The form
_perfusca_, as figured by Stephens, has the fore wings dark purplish grey,
streaked with dark brown; a pale patch at the base is russet marked, the
line before the middle of the wing is russet, and a dash of the same colour
lies at the lower extremity of the line beyond the middle; the hind wings
are brownish grey with a broad whitish cross line. The specimen, which is
of the female sex, was from Dublin, and the form was not then supposed to
occur in any other part of the British Isles. It is now, however, well
known in Scotland and the North of England, and also in Ireland. Some
examples that I have seen from Scotland are much larger and darker than the
figure referred to. In his description of this form Stephens states that
the fore wings are fuscous mixed with chestnut, with darker clouds. The
caterpillar, which is figured on Plate 30, is green, becoming yellowish on
the back; a rather broad stripe on the back of the front rings and the
markings on the humps and on other parts of the body are purplish brown. It
feeds on birch, alder, and sometimes hazel, usually on the former, in June,
July, and August. In some seasons, and localities, the moth appears twice
in the year: the caterpillar may then be found in September and October.
The chrysalis is blackish-brown and rather glossy, enclosed in a cocoon
composed of silk and sand or other soil, and may be obtained by lightly
digging up the earth and sods at the roots of trees.
THE THREE HUMPED (_Notodonta phoebe_ = _tritophus_).
Very little is known in Britain of this Central European moth (Plate 31,
Fig. 3). The first specimen of which we have any {73} knowledge was reared
on August 10, 1842 from a caterpillar found in Essex on aspen. This example
was included, with two others, one of which was captured in Suffolk, in the
collection of the late Dr. Mason, which was dispersed at Stevens' Auction
Rooms in March, 1905.
Besides the specimens mentioned above, a caterpillar, which subsequently
died, was beaten from alder in the Exeter district in 1870; another was
obtained from hazel in Gloucestershire, but this was "ichneumoned." Then
there is a record of a moth or caterpillar, presumably the former,
occurring in the neighbourhood of Paisley; and there is a report that a
caterpillar was once found at the base of an aspen growing on Clapham
Common. A specimen was taken at electric light at Bedford, May, 1907.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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