This moth (Plate [144], Fig. 4) varies in size and also in the colour of the fore wings, which range from a pale ochreous, through reddish shades, to sooty brown. The cross lines are indicated by black dots. The black dotted greenish caterpillar has a brown head and a whitish green plate on first ring of the body. It feeds from May to July in the stems of reed-mace (Typha latifolia), often called the bulrush or catstail; also in the true bulrush (Scirpus lacustris). Fig. 5, Plate [148], shows the chrysalis in its characteristic position when in the stem, that is with the head upwards. The moth flies, in August and September, at dusk, over and among the reeds; the males especially freely responding to the attraction of light. Its chief localities are in the fens of Norfolk and Suffolk, but it has also occurred in Mid-Sussex.
Webb's Wainscot (Nonagria sparganii).
This moth also varies in the colour of the fore wings, from almost whitish through various shades of ochreous and red. The main veins are shaded with grey, and the median one has black dots upon it, chiefly at the end of the cell; the outer margin with a row of large or small black dots. (Plate [144], Fig. 3.) The caterpillar is yellowish green with darker lines; head and plate on first ring of the body pale brown. It feeds in July and August in stems of bur-reed (Sparganium), reed-mace, and yellow flag. Fig. 6, Plate [148], shows the chrysalis in its natural position in the stem. The hole in the stem from which the moth escapes is also clearly in evidence above the chrysalis.
The moth flies among reeds, etc., in August and September. Its chief localities in England are in East and South-east Kent, in which county the first British specimens were obtained by Mr. Sydney Webb in 1879. In 1899 a specimen reared from a caterpillar found in a stem of Typha, was recorded from Suffolk (Woodbridge district); and in 1901 the species was recorded from South Devon. It is also not uncommon "between Old Head of Kinsale and Glandore," Co. Cork, Ireland.
The Bulrush Wainscot (Nonagria typhæ).
The fore wings of this species (Plate [144], Fig. 5), usually of a pale whity-brown colour, in some specimens are reddish tinged; or they may be almost uniformly reddish brown or blackish (var. fraterna, Treit.). The row of black spots on the outer area are wedge-shaped and are placed just before the margin. The caterpillar is pale ochreous more or less tinged with pink; a paler line along the spiracles; head and plate on first ring of the body red-brown. July to August, in stems of Typha. The moth flies in August and September, and although it may be netted when on the wing at dusk, or at light, it is obtained in better condition by rearing it from the chrysalis, which may be found in the stems (Plate [148], Fig. 3), those of the previous year for choice, of reed mace. Generally distributed in England up to Yorkshire; it has been recorded also from Northumberland and the Scottish border. It is common in southern Ireland, and found northwards up to Sligo, Tyrone, and Armagh.
The Twin-spotted (Nonagria geminipuncta).
This species, shown on Plate [144], Figs. 6, 7, varies in colour from pale brown, more or less suffused with grey, through darker, or reddish brown to blackish (var. nigricans, Staud.).
In the brown typical form the reniform mark is represented by two dark-edged white dots, the upper one often tiny or absent (var. unipuncta, Tutt), or both may be absent (var. obsoleta, Tutt). The caterpillar in pale ochreous, pink-tinged, a pale line along the spiracles; head dark brown. May and June, in stems of reeds (Phragmites). The chrysalis lies in the reed stem with the head towards the oval hole above it from which the moth escapes. In August the moth may be found in its haunts in the south and east of England. These are marshes, often near the sea, in Cambridgeshire, Suffolk, Essex, the Thames valley, Sussex, Hants, and the Isle of Wight, Wiltshire and Somerset.