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 fore wings of this obscurely marked species (Plate 97, Fig. 10) are
pale greyish brown inclining to ochreous; the discal spot is black, the
veins are marked with dark brown and white, and the whitish submarginal
line terminates in a white spot above the inner angle.
The caterpillar varies in colour from grey brown or purplish grey to
reddish brown; a series of blackish triangular spots on the back, and
yellowish oblique stripes on the sides. It feeds on the flowers of the
golden-rod (_Solidago virgaurea_), in the autumn; also on ragwort
(_Senecio_). The moth is out in May and early June, but in captivity there
is apparently a second emergence in July and early August. The caterpillars
from which these smaller and rather darker specimens result, hatch from the
egg in May and feed on the flowers of beaked parsley (_Anthriscus
sylvestris_).
Widely distributed in England, Wales and Ireland.
The range abroad extends to north-east Siberia; and the species has been
recorded from Japan. {236}
TRIPLE-SPOTTED PUG (_Eupithecia trisignaria_).
The most noticeable markings on the rather shiny, pale-brown fore wings of
this species (Plate 97, Fig. 13) are the black discal spot and two blackish
clouds above it on the front margin.
The stoutish caterpillar is green, with three darker green lines along the
back, and a wavy yellowish line low down along the sides; head, black. It
feeds, in the autumn, on flowers and seeds of angelica and cow-parsnip, but
the former is its chief food.
June and July are the months for the moth, but it is rarely met with in the
open. The only English counties in which the species has been noted are
Surrey, Sussex, Dorset and Devon in the south; from Herefordshire in the
west its range extends through Worcester, Warwick, Leicester, and Derby to
Lancashire and York. In Scotland, Renton records it as common at Hawick, in
Roxburghshire; and it was recorded from Argyllshire in 1902. Hardly known
in Ireland.
LARCH PUG (_Eupithecia lariciata_).
This species (Plate 97, Fig. 3) is very like that next referred to, but the
fore wings are rather longer, the ground colour is whiter, and the
dark-grey or blackish cross lines are rather more angled and slanting; the
hind wings are paler, and especially so on the front margins.
The long caterpillar is bright green, with a darker green line along the
back, merging into reddish on the last ring; sometimes reddish ochreous
with the line along the back brownish. It feeds, in June and July, on
larch, and will also eat spruce.
The moth is out in May and early June, and may be jarred from larch trees,
or sometimes be found at rest on their stems. {237}
As a British species, it was first met with in Surrey, in 1862, then it was
noted in Sussex, and shortly afterwards in Yorkshire. At the present time,
it will probably be found in any locality where larch is plentiful.
GREY PUG (_Eupithecia castigata_).
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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