Butterflies and Moths

Lepidoptera The Tabby Moth – Aglossa Pinguinalis The first of these families contains the Tabby or Grease Moth, commonly met with both in the larval and perfect states in barns and stables. Fig. 209.-The Tabby or Grease Moth. Its fore wings are brownish grey, crossed with zigzag darker lines, and having a black spot near […]

Lepidoptera Family Xylinida Moths The next family-Xylinida-contains twenty British species, several of which are local, but two or three are abundant and widely distributed. The transverse lines that so often cross the wings of the Noctua are nearly or entirely absent in this family, and longitudinal lines take their place. When the insects are at […]

Lepidoptera Tischeria Complanella Moth Fig. 240.-Complanella-Enlarged. This species represents the rather extensive family Elachistida, the members of which have narrow and pointed wings. Many of them are adorned with beautiful metallic tints, but are generally so small that a lens is necessary to show up the splendour of their clothing. Most of the larva are […]

Lepidoptera Family Boarmiida Moths In the next family-Boarmiida-there are about twenty British members, most of which are very pretty moths. They differ generally from the last family in that their bodies are more slender, and although some of them bear a resemblance to species of the family Ennomida, their wings are not angulated. In several […]

Lepidoptera Galleria Mellonella Moth Our last example of the Crambi is a moth that the young entomologist is not likely to meet with unless he happens to be in the neighbourhood of one of its haunts, but its habits are so peculiar that we are tempted to introduce it on that account. Fig. 223.-Mellonella. It […]

Lepidoptera The Death’s-head Hawk Moth – Acherontia Atropos Our first example of the Sphinges is the beautiful Death’s-Head Hawk Moth-an insect that often attains a breadth of five inches from tip to tip when the wings are fully expanded. Its popular title has been applied on account of the peculiar markings of the thorax, which […]

Lepidoptera The Pearl-bordered Fritillary Butterfly – Argynnis Euphrosyne There is very little difference in the size of this and that of the last species, but Euphrosyne (Plate II, fig. 6) is generally a trifle larger. The two butterflies are also very similar in appearance; indeed, they are so much alike on the upper side that […]

Lepidoptera The Broad-barred White Moth – Hecatera Serena Fig. 167.-The Broad-barred White. Although not gaily coloured, this is a pretty little moth, there being a bright contrast between the white ground and the grey markings of the wings. It is common in the south of England, and seems to be plentiful in and around London. […]

Lepidoptera The Small Elephant Hawk Moth – Charocampa Porcellus This pretty insect is one of the smallest of our hawk moths. It is widely distributed, being met with in many parts of England and in the south of Scotland. It flies in June. Fig. 100.-The Small Elephant Hawk Moth. The fore wings are of a […]

Lepidoptera The Six-spotted Burnet Moth – Zygana Filipendula Fig. 106.-The Six-spotted Burnet. So common is this moth, and so conspicuous when it flies in the blazing sun, that it must be familiar to almost everybody. On a bright midsummer day hundreds may often be started from their grassy beds from one little patch of ground. […]