The Moths of the British Isles, Second Series: Comprising the Families Noctuidæ to HepialidæSouth, Richard
History
The Moths of the British Isles, Second Series: Comprising the Families Noctuidæ to Hepialidæ
South, Richard
Lepidoptera -- Great Britain; Moths -- Great Britain
The species, depicted on Plate 75, Figs. 9, 10, when quite fresh has the
fore wings greenish, and the central band more or less tinged with brown,
in some specimens with blackish; the inner edge of the band is not so
clearly defined as the outer, the latter being followed by a narrow whitish
wavy band; a series of black dots edged with white represent the
submarginal line. Hind wrings, smoky grey, with a pale band beyond the
middle, and a pale line nearer the outer margin.
The roughened caterpillar (Plate 73, Fig. 1) is ochreous brown, mottled
with darker brown, and lined with grey; the raised dots are black, each
with a short bristle. It feeds at night on bedstraw (_Galium_), in the
spring to May, after hibernation.
The moth is out, as a rule, in July and August, but sometimes much earlier.
I reared specimens during the last week in May, 1907, from caterpillars
sent from Torquay by Mr. Walker. It {185} lurks among the vegetation
growing on banks, and the hedgerows of lanes, etc.
In the south of England the species chiefly affects the coasts of Dorset,
Devon, and Cornwall; but it occurs locally in and around beech woods of
Kent, and is more frequent in those of Berks, Oxford, and Bucks. From
Somerset it spreads through the western counties, including part of Wales,
to Lancashire. It is, however, most common among the hills and rills from
Yorkshire northwards. In Scotland it is local in Roxburgh, widely
distributed, and sometimes abundant in Clydesdale and throughout the
Highlands to Sutherland. It has also been noted from Arran. Local in
Ireland, but apparently abundant in some parts.
GREEN CARPET (_Amoebe viridaria_).
This species (Plate 75, Figs. 7, 8), also, has green fore wings, with a
rather deeper green central band and basal patch. The former is limited by
white lines marked with black, conspicuously so on the front and inner
margins; there are also black marks on the front edge of the basal patch,
and at the tips of the wings. The green colour quickly fades to a yellowish
or sandy tint.
The wrinkled caterpillar is olive brown, with bristle-bearing black dots;
the back has a dark central line, and is adorned with reddish V-shaped
marks except on the end rings. It feeds in the spring, after hibernation,
on bedstraw (_Galium_), but it is said to eat sorrel, dead-nettle
(_Lamium_), etc.
The moth is out in June, earlier in the south, and later in the north. It
hides among herbage during the day, and may occasionally be seen resting on
tree-trunks, etc., then feeding just before dark about hedges, and on
commons and heaths. Specimens have been noted in some years in September.
Except that it has not been detected in the Shetlands, the species seems to
be found in all parts of the British Isles. {186}
STRIPED TWIN-SPOT CARPET (_Malenydris salicata_).
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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