Butterflies and Moths

Lepidoptera The Meal Moth – Pyralis Farinalis The same family contains the common Meal Moth, so called because in the larval state it feeds on meal and allied substances. Fig. 210.-The Meal Moth. The fore wings are yellowish grey, with reddish basal patches, a broad reddish band along the hind margin, and two whitish indented […]

Lepidoptera Facts Preserving Butterfly And Moth Ova, LarvA And PupA Many young entomologists give their attention almost solely to the perfect forms of insects, often collecting and studying a very large number of species without regard to their earlier stages and metamorphoses. This is decidedly a very great mistake. Although the lifeless form pinned in […]

Lepidoptera Penthina Pruniana Moth Fig. 228.-Pruniana. The next family-Penthinida-contains the common species Pruniana, which may be readily known by its boldly marked wings. The basal portion of the fore wings, to the extent of nearly two-thirds of the whole, is very dark brown. The remaining third is almost white, and clouded with grey. The hind […]

Lepidoptera Family Sesiida-the Clearwings Moth This family contains fourteen very pretty British insects that differ very much from other moths in many important and interesting particulars. Their antenna, like those of the Sphingida, are thickest beyond the middle, and those of the males are slightly ciliated or hairy. Their bodies are slender, and terminate behind […]

Lepidoptera The Beautiful China Mark Moth – Hydrocampa Stagnata Fig. 214.-The Beautiful China Mark. Our last example of the Pyralides-the Beautiful China Mark-belongs to the family Hydrocampida. This small family is remarkable for the fact that its four species spend their larval state in the water, feeding on the under surfaces of the leaves of […]

Lepidoptera The Large Heath Butterfly – Epinephele Tithonus This butterfly is sometimes called the ‘Small Meadow Brown,’ and is certainly much like the last species, both in colouring and habits. The fore wings of the male (Plate V, fig. 9) are light orange brown, bordered with dark brown, and having a broad patch of the […]

Lepidoptera The Lime Hawk Moth – Smerinthus Tilia This beautiful moth (fig. 5, Plate IX) is easily identified by its rich olive green and brown wings, the fore pair of which have very conspicuous patches of deep olive, sometimes uniting to form a continuous central bar. It flies in May and June. The caterpillar is […]

Lepidoptera Facts Catching Moths By Day The reason for choosing the sunny hours for butterfly collecting is obvious, all these lovers of brightness being then actively on the wing; and although many may be driven out of their hiding places by beating the herbage with the handle of your net, or even be searched out […]

Lepidoptera The Old Lady Moth – Mania Maura Fig. 162.-The Old Lady. This fine moth is so very different from the last in appearance that the reason for placing the two in the same genus is not apparent till the earlier stages and life history have been studied. All its wings are very deep brown; […]

Lepidoptera The Oak Hook Tip Moth – 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. Fig. 129.-The Oak Hook Tip. Its wings are yellowish brown, marked with two lighter transverse lines. There are two black spots between […]