Moths

Lepidoptera The Scarlet Tiger Moth – Callimorpha Dominula Fig. 113.-The Scarlet Tiger. This is certainly one of the most beautiful of all our moths. Its fore wings are dark olive green, with a lovely metallic lustre, and boldly marked with large white and yellow spots. These spots are arranged generally like those in the illustration, […]

Lepidoptera The Large Yellow Underwing Moth – Triphana Pronuba This is by far the commonest moth of the genus, and may be found everywhere, in town and country, from June to August. It is represented on Plate XI (fig. 1), but its fore wings are very variable, sometimes a cold dingy grey, but often of […]

Lepidoptera Family Caberida Moths Six species, all of rather small size, constitute the British portion of the above family. Their wings are mostly white or pale grey, with light markings, and without angles. The moths are to be caught with the net at dusk, or they may be seen on fences and tree trunks during […]

Lepidoptera 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 […]

Lepidoptera The Mottled Umber Moth – Hybernia Defoliaria This very pretty moth is represented in fig. 8 of Plate XII. It is very common in most parts, and visits us at the fall of the leaf, generally appearing in October, and remaining on the wing till November. Our illustration gives the usual appearance of the […]

Lepidoptera The Herald Moth – Gonoptera Libatrix The above-mentioned family is so called on account of the angular margins of the wings, especially the fore pair. It contains only one British species, the Herald (Plate XII, fig. 1), a moth that is common everywhere in August and September. It hybernates in the perfect state, and […]

Lepidoptera The Spurge Hawk Moth – Deilephila Euphorbia This is a very rare British species; in fact, it has never been seen in this country in its perfect state, but the larva has been found plentifully at Appledore and Braunton Burrows, in North Devon, feeding on the sea spurge (Euphorbia Paralias). The perfect insect is […]

Lepidoptera The Bullrush Moth – Nonagria Arundinis Our last example of this family is the Bullrush, a moth that is common in all parts where its food plant abounds. Fig. 145.-The Bullrush. It is much larger than the two preceding species. The fore wings are yellowish brown, with three parallel transverse lines of black spots. […]

Lepidoptera The Garden Pebble Moth – Pionea Forficalis The same family contains also the Garden Pebble, which is one of the commonest frequenters of gardens, both in town and country. Fig. 213.-The Garden Pebble. The fore wings are pale yellowish grey with brown markings. The latter include a fine line from the tip to the […]

Lepidoptera The Peppered Moth – Amphidasys Betularia Fig. 179.-The Peppered Moth. Although this common species displays no bright tints, yet it is prettily marked, its whitish wings being peppered and blotched all over with black or very dark brown. It flies in May and June, later than any other species of the family, and may […]