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| Pl. 147. | ||||
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| 10. Shoulder-striped Wainscot. |
The Large Wainscot (Calamia lutosa).
This species, shown on Plate [145], Figs. 1, 2, varies somewhat in the colour of the fore wings, which is usually pale ochreous brown, but may be more or less reddish tinged, or clouded with dusky; there is a row of black dots beyond the middle of the wing, but these are sometimes faint or absent. The range in size is considerable, some specimens are about the size of L. straminea whilst others will equal that of a large N. typhæ.
The caterpillar is whitish tinged with pink above, and with a dusky line along the back; head reddish brown and glossy; plates on first and last rings of the body shining pale brown. It feeds from April to June in the stems of reed (Phragmites), causing the leaves of the affected stems to whiten. The moth flies in August, September, and October, sometimes later, and occurs in marshes, and on the banks of streams and ditches, in most of the southern and eastern counties of England, and from Derbyshire to Durham; in Scotland it has been recorded from Roxburghshire (near Kelso, rare), Perthshire, Aberdeen, and Shetland. The species is widely spread in Ireland.
The Fen Wainscot (Calamia phragmitidis).
In the typical form this species (Plate [145], Figs. 3, 4) the fore wings are whitish on the basal half, and incline to reddish on the outer half; var. rufescens, Tutt, has these wings reddish all over, but somewhat darker on the outer margin. The caterpillar is ochreous white with a slightly paler stripe along the back, edged on each side with purplish; the spots are black, as also are the spiracles; head and plates on the first and last rings of the body black or blackish brown, glossy. It feeds from August to June in stems of reed (Phragmites), and is said
to hatch from the egg in the autumn. The moth flies in July and August, and is fond of the flowers of grasses growing in its marshy haunts. It is common in the Norfolk and Cambridge fens, and is found in suitable locations in Huntingdon, Northampton, Lincoln, Yorkshire, Cheshire, and South Lancashire, also in Berkshire, Suffolk, Essex, Kent, and Sussex.