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Note.—According to Prout, sagittata is not a Cidaria, as its larva is of a very different form; and siterata and miata are referred to Chloroclysta, Hübner.
Grey Pine Carpet (Thera variata).
In its typical form, the fore wings of this species are greyish, and from this the colour ranges through various tints of greyish brown to smoky brown or blackish; sometimes these wings are shades of ochreous brown. The usual markings are a basal patch, more or less clearly defined, and a central band, and these may be either brown or blackish; the band varies in width, is not infrequently narrowed or contracted below the middle, occasionally broken at this point, and more rarely only represented by a small angular spot near the front margin.
Four examples are shown on Plate [70], and of these 1 and 2 represent our ordinary form obeliscata, Hübner (Shaded Broad Bar, of Newman). Fig. 6 is a blackish banded specimen of the obeliscata form, and Fig. 3 is the almost entirely blackish form obliterata, White (scotica, Staud.), which is not uncommon in the Paisley district, and other parts of Scotland, and also occurs in a modified form in some pine-woods in the South of England.
The long caterpillar (Plate [71], Fig. 1), which feeds on the needles of Scots pine in April and May, also in July, and sometimes in September, is bright green, with three whitish lines along the back, the central one broad, and a yellowish line low down along the sides; the green roundish head is lined with white.
The moth is generally common in pine-woods throughout the greater part of the British Isles. The May-June flight is the most abundant, but there is occasionally a good sprinkling of moths in the autumn.
Abroad, the area of distribution includes Eastern Siberia, Corea, China, and Japan.