The caterpillar is pale ochreous brown minutely freckled with darker; the lines on the back are blackish, but indistinct; usual dots margined with black; head pale brown, marked with darker. It feeds on the buds, flowers, and seeds of campions (Silene maritima and S. inflata) from June to August. The moth flies in June, July, and early August, and may be taken, like the last species, at the flowers of the campions growing on the rocks in its seaside haunts.
The Marbled Coronet (Dianthœcia conspersa).
Three forms of this locally variable species are shown on Plate [123]. Fig. 6 represents the typical form occurring generally in England, but in North Devonshire, on the coast, specimens are found closely approaching the Isle of Lewis form (Fig. 7), whilst others from that district agree in the blackish ground colour with specimens from Ireland. A still darker
race occurs in the Shetland Isles, and chiefly on the east coasts, whence came the specimen depicted (Fig. 8). On the western sides of the Shetlands, Mr. McArthur found the species to be rather more typical as a whole, although some specimens approached the darker eastern form. The dark Shetland race has been named var. hethlandica by Staudinger, and the form with the white markings yellowish tinged is var. ochrea, Gregson.
The caterpillar is pale ochreous brown; the back sprinkled with darker, and forming still darker V-shaped marks, central line pale; spiracles ochreous with black outlines, set in the upper edge of a pale stripe; head shining pale yellowish-brown freckled and lined with darker. It feeds on the seeds of catchfly, campion, and will eat those of sweet-william and garden pinks. July to September. The moth is out in June and July, and at dusk visits the flowers of its food plants, and occasionally comes to sugar. It is chiefly found in the seaboard counties, but as regards England is commoner in the south than in the north. Although generally rare in the inland counties, it is sometimes not uncommon in some Surrey localities, such as the Croydon district, and Mr. Scollick has reared moths from caterpillars found in seed capsules of white campion at Horsley.
The distribution of this species extends to Amurland.
The White Spot (Dianthœcia albimacula).
The moth shown on Plate [124], Fig. 1, is "The Beautiful Coronet" of some writers. Although a specimen was taken in Kent in 1816, nothing further was heard of the species in England until 1865, when one example was captured in the Portsmouth district. Then in 1873 caterpillars were found in the Birchwood locality where the first moth was secured. The next year the species was found to occur at Folkestone, and subsequently at other places along the Kentish coast. Since
1889 it has been obtained, not uncommonly, at Seaton on the South Devon coast. The caterpillar, which is somewhat similar to that of the last species, feeds in July and August on the seeds of the Nottingham catchfly (Silene nutans), but will thrive on those of other kinds of catchfly, campion, or even sweet-william and garden pinks. The moth flies in May and June.