Butterflies and Moths

Lepidoptera The Shark Moth – Cucullia Umbratica The Shark is a very common moth, to be found everywhere on palings in June, but the colour of its wings so closely resembles that of oak and other light-wood fences that detection is not so easy as with most other moths. Fig. 173.-The Shark. The fore wings […]

Lepidoptera The Currant Clearwing Moth – Sesia Tipuliformis Fig. 104.-The Currant Clearwing. This is by far the commonest of all the Clearwings, and only too well known to those who grow currants. Examine the shoots of Ribes rubrum (red currant) and R. nigrum (black currant), especially those that present a withered or half-withered appearance, and […]

Lepidoptera The Chalk-hill Blue Butterfly – Lycana Corydon Fig. 91.-The Chalk Hill Blue-Under Side. The male of this species (Plate VII, fig. 1) is readily to be distinguished from all other members of the genus by its pale glossy blue, but the female (fig. 2 of Plate VII) so closely resembles that of Bellargus that […]

Lepidoptera The Orange Tip Butterfly – Euchloe Cardamines No one could possibly mistake the male of this species for any other British butterfly, the popular name alone giving quite sufficient information for its identification, but the female Orange Tip is not tipped with orange, and its markings, both above and beneath, resemble those of Daplidice […]

Lepidoptera The Marbled White Butterfly – Melanargia Galatea Our first member of this family is the exception to which we have already alluded as a relief to the general dinginess of the ‘Browns.’ Its colours above are cream and black, arranged as shown in Plate V, fig. 2. The under side (fig. 77) is marked […]

Lepidoptera The Broad-bordered Five-spotted Burnet Moth – Zygana Trifolii On Plate IX (fig. 7) will be found a coloured representation of this Burnet. The two crimson spots in the base of the fore wing are very close together, and often touch. The same remark also applies to the two spots on the middle of the […]

Lepidoptera The Turnip Moth – Agrotis Segetum This is another of those destructive insects that attack vegetable and flower gardens, often doing so much damage to our crops as to become quite a nuisance to cultivators. Fig. 155.-The Turnip Moth. The moth is decidedly dingy. Its fore wings are brown, clouded with a darker tint. […]

Lepidoptera The Cabbage Moth – Mamestra Brassica Whatever be your methods of moth collecting, you are sure to meet with Brassica in abundance. They swarm round the insect hunter’s sugar in such numbers as to become a positive nuisance. They are also attracted by light. During the day they may be seen at rest on […]

Lepidoptera The Dingy Skipper Butterfly – Nisoniades Tages Colour-a dingy brown, indistinctly barred and spotted with a darker tint, and having a row of small white spots just inside the fringe of the hind margins. Under side-a paler brown, with rows of small white spots. This butterfly is common in all parts of England, and […]

Lepidoptera The Flounced Rustic Moth – Luperina Testacea Fig. 149.-The Flounced Rustic. The fore wings are greyish brown, with darker umber-brown markings. These latter are variable, but the most conspicuous is a series of dark crescent-shaped spots almost parallel with the hind margin, and immediately outside these is a series of paler crescents. The caterpillar […]