The ground colour of the caterpillar is black; but it is so closely covered with short yellowish brown hairs that the black is scarcely visible, excepting when the creature rolls itself up into a ring, which it does when alarmed. The spiracles are white, and there is a series of white spots down the middle of the back and along each side. It feeds on whitethorn (_Crataegus oxyacantha_), heather (_Calluna_, _Erica_), poplar (_Populus nigra_), and various other plants and trees.
As a rule the larva hybernates through the winter, is full grown in the following May, and the moth appears in July; but in Scotland the caterpillar does not spin its coc.o.o.n till September, hybernates in the chrysalis state, and emerges in the following June. The same is true of the Cornish Eggars; but along the coast of South Devon both varieties are to be met with.
The male Eggar seems to enjoy the bright sunshine, for I have seen large numbers flying over the rugged cliffs of the south-west throughout all hours of the day.
_The Drinker_ (_Odonestis potatoria_)
The popular name of this species is applied on account of a peculiar feature of the larva, which sucks up the dewdrop that lies on its food plant.
The colour of the male is tawny and brown, with a reddish tinge; that of the female is yellow. The front wing has an oblique dark bar pa.s.sing from the apex to the middle of the inner margin; also two white spots--one in the middle of the wing, and the other between it and the costal margin.
[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 128.--THE DRINKER--MALE.]
The caterpillar is dark bluish grey above, and has a line of orange spots on each side. Along the spiracles are oblique orange streaks, and a series of tufts of white hair. It feeds on the annual meadow-gra.s.s (_Poa annua_), and several other gra.s.ses. It is a hybernator, commencing its caterpillar state in the autumn, and reaching its full dimensions about the end of the following May.
The moth flies during July and August.
_The Lappet_ (_Lasiocampa quercifolia_)
Our last example of the _Bombycidae_ is the Lappet (Plate X, fig. 6), a large moth, the female often measuring considerably over three inches from tip to tip. The wings are of a rich reddish brown, and exhibit a beautiful purplish bloom in a newly emerged insect. Scalloped black lines pa.s.s transversely across each wing, and a small black dot lies near the centre of the fore wings.
The caterpillar is very variable in colour, but is usually grey or reddish brown. A deep purple band lies between the second and third segments, and another between the third and fourth. On the twelfth there is a small hump, and a pale stripe, more or less distinct, runs along each side. It feeds on the blackthorn (_Prunus spinosa_), buckthorn (_Rhamnus catharticus_), and the white willow (_Salix alba_).
The moth is not uncommon, and is on the wing in June.
Family--ENDROMIDae
_The Kentish Glory_ (_Endromis versicolor_)
The beautiful Kentish Glory is the only British representative of its family. The male is shown in Plate X (fig. 7); the female is larger and similarly marked, but its colours are not so bright.
This moth is not common, but may be seen occasionally in the birch woods of the southern counties. The males fly rapidly in the bright sunshine, but the females must be searched for on the bark and branches of the trees.
The eggs are laid in April on the twigs of the birch (_Betula alba_), and the young caterpillar emerges early in May. It is gregarious at first, but loses its social tendencies as it gets older. When full grown, it is of a pale green colour, with white spiracles, a dark green line down the back, and an oblique white stripe on each side of each segment. The sides are dotted with black and brown, and there is a conspicuous hump on the top of the twelfth segment.
When fully grown it spins a coc.o.o.n among the dead leaves beneath the tree, and in this it spends the winter months in the chrysalis state.
Family--SATURNIIDae
_The Emperor Moth_ (_Saturnia pavonia_)
Here is another family with but one British member; but in this, as in the last case, the only representative is a really beautiful insect. The male _Pavonia_ is shown on Plate X (fig. 8), and will need no written description as an aid to its identification. The female is larger, and similarly marked, but the ground colour of the wings is pale grey.
This moth is abundant almost everywhere, and may be looked for in the neighbourhood of heaths and woods early in the month of May.
The larva feeds on a large number of plants and trees, among which may be mentioned the willow (_Salix alba_), blackthorn (_Prunus spinosa_), elder (_Sambucus nigra_), whitethorn (_Crataegus oxyacantha_), bramble (_Rubus fruticosus_), heaths (_Erica tetralix_ and _E. cinerea_), and the meadow-sweet (_Spiraea ulmaria_). Its colour is a lovely green; and each segment has several pink tubercles, each surrounded by a black ring, and giving rise to a tuft of short black hairs. The spiracles are orange.
In the autumn it spins a pear-shaped coc.o.o.n of silk, open at the small end (fig. 28).
It may here be mentioned in pa.s.sing that, in the case of some of the larger moths of the few preceding families, the young entomologist is likely to meet with larvae more frequently than the perfect insect. These moths, however, are mostly very hardy and easily reared; and a beginner cannot do better than endeavour to obtain either ova or larvae, in order that he may be able to watch the different species through their various stages.
Family--DREPANULIDae
We now reach a family containing six small moths that differ in many important particulars from those we have just been considering. They are of such slender build that a beginner may easily mistake them for Geometers. Their wings, though small, are broad, and well proportioned to their bodies. In five cases out of the six the front wings are more or less hooked at the tips, and on this account the moths in question are called the Hook Tips.
The larvae are not hairy, but they all have little fleshy projections on their backs. Their bodies also taper to a point behind, and the last pair of claspers are wanting, so that they have only fourteen walking appendages. When at rest they usually fix themselves by their claspers only, their pointed "tails" being directed slightly upward, and all the front segments being also elevated. When about to change, they descend to the ground, and spin their coc.o.o.ns among dead leaves.
Two only of this family can receive an individual notice.
_The Oak Hook Tip_ (_Drepana binaria_)
This can hardly be described as a very common moth, but it is fairly plentiful in the woods of the southern counties of England.
Its wings are yellowish brown, marked with two lighter transverse lines.
There are two black spots between the lines of the fore wings. The antennae of the male are pectinated; those of the female simple. The latter s.e.x is further distinguished by the paler colour of the hind wings.
[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 129.--THE OAK HOOK TIP.]
The larva is brown, with a broad stripe, edged with yellow, down the back. There are two projections on the back of the fourth segment. It feeds on oak (_Quercus Robur_) and birch (_Betula alba_).
This moth is double-brooded, and may be seen on the wing in June and August. The larva may be beaten from the above-mentioned trees in June and July, and again in September.
_The Chinese Character_ (_Cilix glaucata_)
The fore wings of this species are white, with a broad dark blotch from the inner margin to near the costa. The central portion of this blotch is marked with silvery spots which are said to resemble Chinese characters. The hind margin is shaded with a dark grey border, inside which is a row of dark spots. The hind wings are clouded with grey.
[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 130.--THE CHINESE CHARACTER.]
This moth is widely distributed, and seems to be common throughout England. It is double brooded, the first brood appearing in May and June, and the second in August.
The caterpillar, which is brown, with two prominent tubercles on each of the third and fourth segments, feeds on the whitethorn (_Crataegus oxyacantha_), and the blackthorn (_Prunus spinosa_).
Family--DICRANURIDae
The five British species that represent this family are such interesting insects that we should like to have given a detailed description of all of them, but our limited s.p.a.ce will allow of no more than an outline of the general characteristics of the group and a selection of two for individual mention.
They are thick-bodied moths, and the prevailing colours are white and shades of grey. The antennae are pectinated in the males, and, with the exception of the Lobster Moth (_f.a.gi_), in the females also.
The larvae, like those of the last family, have no a.n.a.l claspers, and stand, when at rest, with both ends of the body raised. They have two "tails" projecting from the last segment. The largest of them (the Puss), and three smaller species (Kittens) that closely resemble it in habits, all construct hard coc.o.o.ns to be presently described; but the larva of the Lobster Moth spins a light coc.o.o.n among the leaves of trees.