Moths

Lepidoptera The Ghost Swift Moth – Hepialus Humuli Fig. 116.-The Ghost Swift-Female. One of the commonest of these moths is the Ghost Swift, which may be seen in hundreds on waste places in the south of England during the month of June. The wings of the male are white, with a silky gloss, and a […]

Lepidoptera Crambi Moth The third group of the ‘Micros’ is the Crambi, and contains about eighty species, arranged in four families. Some of them are common moths with which all must be more or less familiar, as they are roused from the grasses on which they repose at almost every footstep as we walk through […]

Lepidoptera The Common Wave Moth – Cabera Exanthemata Fig. 186.-The Common Wave. The first of our two examples of this small family is the Common Wave, the wings of which are pale grey, almost white, dusted all over with small dark dots. The fore wings are crossed by three parallel and equidistant darker transverse lines, […]

Lepidoptera The Poplar Grey Moth – Acronycta Megacephala This is also a very common moth, to be found in all the southern and midland counties, wherever poplars abound, during June and July. Fig. 140.-The Poplar Grey. Its fore wings are grey, marbled with a very dark grey. A little inside the middle of these wings, […]

Lepidoptera The Netted Pug Moth – Eupithecia Venosata We now come to the enormous genus Eupithecia, containing about fifty small species, most of which are known as ‘Pugs.’ Many of these are only imperfectly known, there being yet much to learn about their earlier stages. Fig. 197.-The Netted Pug. The Netted Pug flies in May […]

Lepidoptera Aciptilia Pentadactyla Moth Fig. 217.-Pentadactyla. The fore wings of this species are white, frequently with a few greyish scales, and are deeply divided into two feathery plumes. The hind wings are pure white, and consist of three plumes. This pretty insect is common and widely distributed, and flies during June and July. The caterpillar […]

Lepidoptera The Maiden’s Blush Moth – Zonosoma Punctaria The family Ephyrida contains only six British species, chiefly remarkable for the fact that their pupa generally resemble those of butterflies. We choose for our example the pretty little Maiden’s Blush, so called on account of the soft reddish patch on the middle of each fore wing. […]

Lepidoptera The Mother Shipton Moth – Euclidia Mi Passing over a few small and less important families, we come to the Euclidiida, which contains only two British moths. One of these is the Mother Shipton, a very common insect that flies in June. The fore wings of this species are very dark brown with whitish […]

Lepidoptera The Eyed Hawk Moth – Smerinthus Ocellatus Our next genus (Smerinthus) contains three well-known moths, all of which have the hind margin of the fore wings angulated or indented. The first is the Eyed Hawk, represented in fig. 4 of Plate IX and named after the beautiful and conspicuous eye-like spot near the anal […]

Lepidoptera The Cinnabar Moth – Euchelia Jacobaa The family Eucheliida contains only four British species, two of which must receive a share of our attention. The first of these is the Cinnabar Moth, which is common in all localities where its food plants-the groundsel (Senecio vulgaris) and the ragwort (S. Jacobaa)-abound. Fig. 112.-The Larva of […]