The general colour of this moth is white; the fore wings more or less sprinkled and clouded with brownish grey or dark grey, and crossed by two black lines, the first curved and the second slightly waved, indented and edged inwardly with ochreous brown; the three raised tufts are white, capped with grey (Plate [73]).
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| Pl. 72. |
| 1, 1a. | Short-cloaked Moth: caterpillar and cocoon. |
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| 2, 2a, 2b. | Green Silver-lines: caterpillar and cocoon. |
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| 3, 3a, 3b. | Scarce Silver-lines: caterpillar before hibernation, chrysalis and cocoon. |
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| 4, 4a. | Large Marbled Tortrix: caterpillar and cocoon. |
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| Pl. 73. |
| 1. Cream-bordered Green Pea. | 4, 7. Green Silver Lines. | 10. Scarce Silver Lines. |
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| 2, 3. Short-cloaked Moth. | 5. Small Black Arches. | 6. Least Black Arches. |
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| 13. | Kent Black Arches. | 8, 9, 11, 12. | Scarce Black Arches. |
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This is the only really variable species among the five occurring in this country. In some specimens the space between the cross lines is largely filled in with dark grey, and in other specimens the wings are almost entirely white, traces of the cross lines being the only markings.
Mr. Robert Adkin, who has reared this species from the egg, kindly allowed me to select specimens from his fine series to illustrate the range of aberration; these are figured on Plate [73].
Caterpillar brownish inclining to purplish, with an ochreous line along the middle of the back and some brown V-shaped black marks. Head blackish brown. It feeds in May, after hibernation, on various clovers, preferring the blossoms, and bird's-foot trefoil (Lotus corniculatus).
The moth appears some time between mid-July and mid-August. The late Mr. Tugwell, by keeping some larvæ, reared from the egg, in a warm room induced them to feed up instead of hibernating, and they attained the moth state in December.