Twin-spot Carpet (Malenydris didymata).
The fore wings in the male are pale greyish, more or less tinged with ochreous brown, and crossed by a dark grey, inclining to blackish, central band; the base of the wings is often banded with dark grey, as also is the outer marginal area; on the latter, above the middle, are twin black spots, and there is a black spot or streak above nearer the tip of the wing. The female is smaller, paler, often whitish, and sometimes pale ochreous; the latter form is prevalent in the Shetlands; the central band is the only distinct cross marking in this sex. On the moorlands in the north of England a blackish form of the male occurs (ab. nigra, Prout), and this is very similar to ab. nubilata of the previous species; ab. ochroleucata, Aurivillius, is uniformly greyish brown, with a white submarginal line, and I have a specimen near this from Durham.
The caterpillar is green, inclining to yellowish on the back,
and to pinkish on the sides; three lines along the side, the central one dark green, and the others whitish. It feeds on primrose, red campion (Lychnis diurna), bilberry, etc., as well as on the flowers of coarse grasses; in North Devon I found it in profusion at night, on the blossoms of a wood-rush (Luzula), growing in a sheltered wood near the sea. April and May, later perhaps in the north. (Plate [77], Figs. 4-6 ♂, 7-9 ♀.)
The moth is out in July and August, and is common in almost every part of the British Isles.
November Moth (Oporabia (Epirrita) dilutata).
The more usual forms of this common autumnal species are those represented by Figs. 1 and 2, Plate [78]. Fig. 3 is a small example of the pale form, ab. christyi, Prout, which, in many respects, is very similar to autumnata, Guenée, a form of the next species. Fig. 4 is a female approaching ab. obscurata, Staud., and Fig. 5 shows the uniformly blackish ab. melana, Prout. In some pale-coloured specimens the only conspicuous marking is a broad central band which is almost black in colour (ab. latifasciata, Prout).
The eggs (Plate [76], Fig. 1a) were yellowish when laid, but soon changed to crimson red.
The caterpillar is green, inclining to whitish below, often marked, more or less distinctly, with purplish red, as a central line, or series of spots, along the back, and sometimes as bands on the ring division. It feeds on the foliage of trees, such as elm, oak, birch, etc., also on fallow, hawthorn, sloe, apple, plum, and other fruit trees. April to June. (Plate [76], Fig. 1.)