Richard South

Name: The Moths of the British Isles — Lymantriidæ
Author: Richard South

The Moths of the British Isles… (1920)

Summary

“The Moths of the British Isles — Lymantriidæ”, published in 1920, is a work by Richard South. It explores elements such as caterpillar, moth and cocoon.

Quotes from The Moths of the British Isles… (Richard South)

Richard South, The Moths of the British Isles… (1920)

“ The habit of the moth is to sit upon the foliage of bushes and the branches of trees, where it might easily be passed over for a fluffy white feather; occasionally it may be found on palings or even iron railings. About dark it is on the wing, and light has then a great attraction for it. The caterpillar is black with black and grey hairs; a vermillion stripe down the middle of the back has a black central line, and is expanded on rings four, eleven, and twelve; along each side there are tufts of snowy white fluffy scales ”

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Source: Wikisource

Richard South, The Moths of the British Isles… (1920)

“ The caterpillars hatch out in August, and while still very small go into hibernation in a common nest. In the spring, when active again, they construct a new habitation, and another or perhaps two more before they are full grown, about June. The chrysalis is very dark, almost blackish-brown, with tufts of hair, and the fairly substantial brownish cocoon in which it is enclosed is composed of silk and caterpillar hairs, and is spun up on the food-plant, often singly, but not infrequently, several are made up in a common silken covering. ”

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Source: Wikisource

Richard South, The Moths of the British Isles… (1920)

“ These urticating hairs are more troublesome when received from the caterpillar or cocoon, but those from the moth itself communicate a very respectable simulation of the skin trouble known to the doctor as Urticaria.
The Scarce Vapourer (Orgyia gonostigma) .
The male of this species, and also of the next, flies in the sunshine, but the female of each is wingless, or nearly so, and has to remain at home on the cocoon from which she emerged. Here she lays a large number of eggs, from four to five hundred, upon the exterior. The eggs of this species are whitish and rather glossy when first laid ”

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Source: Wikisource

Richard South, The Moths of the British Isles… (1920)

“ The male has the wings rather more ample than the same sex of the last species, the colour is a more ochreous red and there is a large white spot at the lower angle of the fore wings, but no white mark at the tips of these wings. Specimens from the north of England are rather darker than southern examples. In the course of temperature experiments it has been noted that the colour of the moth is darkened if the chrysalids are put in a refrigerator for a few weeks, and then brought into a mean temperature of 40° Fahr. ”

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Source: Wikisource

Richard South, The Moths of the British Isles… (1920)

“ Such failure is curious, seeing that in America the accidental introduction of a few moths has resulted in the species becoming so numerous that at least one state has been expending thousands of dollars in endeavouring to destroy it. The eggs are laid in batches and covered with the down-like scales from the anal tuft of the female.
The caterpillar hatches in April, and in warm weather feeds up pretty quickly. It is grey, covered with black dots and fine marks; the hairs arising in spreading tufts from the raised warts, are longer on the sides than on the back ”

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Source: Wikisource

Richard South, The Moths of the British Isles… (1920)

“ Laying her eggs in batches, the female carefully covers them with dark brown hairs from the tuft at the end of her body.
The caterpillar (Plate 41, Fig. 4) is blackish, with star-like tufts of hairs, yellow, mixed with longer blackish ones towards the head and tail, brownish grey on the middle portion; a brush of black hairs on rings four, five, and eleven, and of white hairs on six, seven, and eight. Head black. When full grown (Plate 42, Fig. 3) the hairs of the body are greyish, and those of the brushes on the back are black flanked with white. When disturbed it rolls in a ring. ”

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Source: Wikisource

Richard South, The Moths of the British Isles… (1920)

“ It frequently falls a victim to the parasitical flies, and it is probably due to these enemies that the species is less common in some years than in others. Besides poplar, it will feed upon sallow and willow. Hibernating when quite tiny, it reappears in April, and, feeding up, is ready to enter the chrysalis state in June or July, when it spins a flimsy silken cocoon among the leaves, or in some suitable cranny on the tree or bush. The moth is shown on Plate 43, Fig. 6, and the caterpillar and chrysalis on Plate 44, Fig. ”

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Source: Wikisource

Richard South, The Moths of the British Isles… (1920)

“ It is quite a Cockney insect, and is found in almost every part of the Metropolis where there are a few trees. Occurs practically over the whole of Europe, and in North-east Asia Minor, Armenia, Siberia, Amurland, and North America. ”

Richard South

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