Fore wings silky whitish grey with a yellowish streak along the front edge; the hind wings are whitish with a faint yellowish tinge. Some of the specimens are entirely whitish (var. lacteola, Boisd.). July and August, sometimes earlier. (Plate [99], Figs. 1, 2.)
Caterpillar greyish brown, with a black line along the back, and a series of irregular orange marks, representing stripes, on each side of it; these orange marks are outwardly edged with black; an orange line low down along the sides; warts greyish or brownish, each bearing a tuft of short pale hairs. Head blackish, shining, notched on the crown, and studded with pale bristles in front. Fed on lettuce from April 30, the date they were received from Mr. Walker of Torquay. They were then quite small, the largest not more than half an inch in length. They pupated in June, and the moths emerged in July, all fine specimens. (Plate [98], Fig. 1.)
In the open the caterpillar feeds upon the black lichens growing on rocks, etc., by the sea; also upon Dutch clover (Trifolium repens), kidney vetch (Anthyllis vulneraria), and bird's-foot trefoil (Lotus corniculatus).
This species was not known to occur in any part of the British Isles until August, 1861, when the late Mr. C. G. Barrett took four specimens on the Hill of Howth in Ireland (vide Ent. Annual, 1862, p. 106). A large number were subsequently captured or reared from caterpillars obtained in the same locality by others. Kane ("Cat. Lep. Ireland") remarks that the colony flourished at Howth for many years, but that the species seemingly perished in the severe winters of 1878 or 1879, and unless a specimen taken in 1890 was this species, has not since been seen there. The only other Irish locality from which it has been recorded (August, 1866) is on the coast near Waterford. Torquay, where the species was first observed in 1864 is now a noted locality, and it is said to occur in certain spots along the coast to Babbicombe. Other localities in Devon are Dartmouth, Torcross, and Bolt Head. Barrett found the species rarely in two places by the sea in South Pembrokeshire, and mentions Rye in Sussex, and Romney Marsh in Kent, as localities where specimens have occurred.
Mr. J. Walker informs me that the moths fly at dusk, and
that they all seem to get active at almost the same moment, and settle again in the same way at the end of their first flight, which lasts about half an hour. After dark the rays of an acetylene lamp directed downwards into the bushes will attract them from their retreat. Occasionally they visit "sugar."
Abroad this is a southern species, but its range extends to Western Germany, the Tyrol, Switzerland, and South Hungary, as well as to England; also to Asia Minor.
The Orange Footman (Lithosia sororcula).
This moth is orange yellow on the fore wings, and a paler shade of the same colour on the hind wings. Except that the tint is brighter in some specimens and darker in others, there is nothing to mention in the way of aberration. (Plate [99], Figs. 6, 7.)