Richard South

“ The caterpillar (figured on Plate 18, Fig. 3, from a photo by Mr. Main) is green with a black-edged yellow stripe along the back, and another along the white spiracles; between these stripes are two pale greenish lines; head, green, sprinkled with blackish. In another form the body is suffused with reddish, inclining to purplish on the back; yellow markings pretty much as in the green form. It feeds chiefly on golden-rod (Solidago virgaurea) and sea star-wort (Aster tripolium) , showing a decided preference for the flowers, but will eat the foliage of the plants mentioned. ”

“ Sometimes the body has a yellowish tinge at each end. It feeds on the foliage of sallow and willow, from April to June, drawing together the terminal leaves of a shoot as a retreat.
The moth is on the wing in July and August, and is more frequently attracted at night to the aphis secretion known as "honeydew" than to the sugar patch, although it does not ignore the latter altogether, and occasionally enters the illuminated moth trap. Barrett states that he has found it at the flowers of figwort (Scrophularia aquatica) . ”

“ The moth is out in July and August, but is rarely noticed in the daytime, although at night, when it becomes active, it may be obtained, sometimes not altogether uncommonly, at honeydew, or in much fewer numbers at sugar or light. The best way to obtain the species is to search for the caterpillars, which are not at all difficult to rear. Most of them, however, prefer the higher foliage of well-grown aspen or poplar, where they may be seen but not readily secured ”

“ The moth flies in September and October, and then visits ivy bloom and sugar at night; after hibernation it comes to sallow bloom. It has been found during the winter between dry leaves on oak twigs in the hedgerows. Females taken late in the spring and enclosed in a chip box will probably deposit a good supply of eggs; caterpillars hatching from them are not difficult to rear.
The species does not appear to have been noticed in the eastern or northern counties of England, but it occurs from Worcester southwards to Somerset, Dorset, Devon, and Cornwall. ”

“ The moths are out in August and September, and in the late afternoon may be seen, newly emerged from the chrysalis, on ash trunks, or on twigs and herbage immediately around the tree stems. When on the wing at night it is attracted by light, especially electric, and by sugar. Now that the habits of the species are better known than formerly, it has been ascertained to occur in most English counties. In Scotland it is widely distributed up to Argyll and Perthshire ”

“ The moth is out from about mid-July to mid-August. On some nights it will come freely to sugar and on others it seems more partial to honeydew. It is obtained most frequently perhaps in Berkshire, Middlesex, Surrey, and Hampshire, but it is also known to occur in Devon, Dorset, Sussex, Essex, Suffolk, Cambs., Hunts, Hertfordshire, Oxfordshire, Gloucestershire, Herefordshire, and South Wales. ”

“ Sometimes the basal area of the fore wings is suffused with black, and to a lesser extent the outer area also (var. æthiops, Hoffm. = suffusa, Tutt) ; on the other hand, typical examples have both basal and outer areas silvery grey, and the central area black. A form, which I have not seen, is described as having the black central area broken by an ashy cross band passing between the stigmata (var. variegata, Tutt) .
The caterpillar is reddish brown, with three white lines along the back, and a reddish-freckled ochreous stripe low down on the sides. Sometimes the general colour is blackish. ”

“ The moth emerges in June and July as a rule, sometimes in early August, but has been known to come from the chrysalis during September up to the 23rd of that month. The species is found often abundantly in the caterpillar state in the seaboard counties of Norfolk, Suffolk, Essex, Kent, Sussex, Hants, and Dorset. ”

“ Portraits of two specimens of this very local species, kindly lent by Mr. R. Adkin, will be found on Plate 13, Figs. 4 and 5. The general coloration is usually silvery grey, but occasionally it inclines to yellowish. The moth has rarely been noted by day, and only one specimen seems to have been captured on the wing. Even caterpillars are by no means common in their best-known localities, and of those obtained after much labour a large proportion may frequently prove to have been the victims of parasitic flies. ”

“ Its food plant is golden-rod (Solidago) and it feeds at night and hides by day, low down on the stems or under the leaves: July to September. In confinement the caterpillars will eat garden aster and Michaelmas daisy.
The British haunts of the species are chiefly in Kent (Sevenoaks, Tunbridge Wells, etc.) , and Sussex (Tilgate Forest, etc.) ; but according to Barrett it is also known from Hampshire, Surrey, and Essex. Abroad, the range extends through Central Europe to Southern Scandinavia, Livonia, Southern Russia, the Altai Mountains, Italy, and Armenia; but the species is nowhere plentiful. ”

“ Specimens of the moth found at large in Britain occur in the autumn.
In the United States of America, where it is known as the "Cotton Boll worm," "Corn-ear worm," and "Tomato fruit worm," this caterpillar is chiefly destructive to corn crops, as of the five generations stated to occur during the year in the States three occur in cornfields. It also attacks beans, tobacco, pumpkins, melons, oranges, garden flowering-plants, and many kinds of wild plants. ”

“ Ab. polita, Hübner (Fig. 9) , has a whitish-grey submarginal band and greyish cross lines, and ab. spadicea, Haworth (Fig. 10) , is a dark form without any distinct markings. This species has long been incorrectly known as spadicea, Hübner, which, as noted above, is a form of vaccinii, L. Staudinger, probably to prevent confusion, deposed spadicea, Haworth, and set up subspadicea in its place.
Fig. 8 represents a specimen from North Kent that somewhat suggests ab. suffusa, Tutt, of the previous species. ”

“ In the collection of the late Dr. Mason, which was dispersed at Stevens' in 1905, there were three specimens, each of which had seemingly been included among series of C. absinthii purchased at three separate sales. ”

“ It seems to be not uncommon in South Wales, and has been reported from Capel Curig, in Carnarvonshire. As regards Ireland, Kane says that there are few Irish localities where this species is not found. ”