The moth is most frequent, perhaps, in April, May, July, and August, but it may be met with in either of the months from April to November. Pretty generally distributed over the British Isles, including the Hebrides and the Orkneys.
Cloaked Pug (Eucymatoge togata).
Over sixty years ago, this fine pug (Plate [99], Figs. 11 and 12) was detected in England. It was first noted in a plantation of spruce fir at Black Park, Buckinghamshire, in mid-June, 1845, and for many years this was the only known British locality. At the present time it is obtained more or less regularly in the New Forest, and has been recorded, chiefly in single specimens, from Wiltshire, Essex, Cambridgeshire, Suffolk, Yorkshire, and Durham. It is not uncommon in Scotland up to Inverness, but is most plentiful in Perthshire.
Kane (Catalogue of the Lepidoptera of Ireland) states that it is spreading over an extensive area in Ireland, as a result of the planting of spruce fir.
The caterpillar, which feeds in the spruce cones, and eats the immature seeds, is dingy white with a pinkish tinge, and suffused with blackish above; the lines along the back and sides, when present, are whitish but not distinct; head, and raised dots on the body, black; a brown plate on the first ring: July and August. Cones containing caterpillars may be secured by visiting a known locality for the species towards the end of August, especially immediately after a gale.
The moth may be dislodged from its resting place among the branches of the spruce in June, sometimes earlier or later.
V-Pug (Chloroclystis coronata).
This is "Phalæna" v-ata, Haworth, and also the V-Pug of that author. A later English name for the species is "The Coronet Pug," an Anglicism for the Latin specific name, and has reference to the black upper part of the outer cross line which is twice angled and bears a fanciful resemblance to a
coronet; the lower angle is, however, most distinct, therefore Haworth's English name seems most suitable as it indicates the V-mark, which is a noticeable character of this delicate green species. (Plate [100], Fig. 1.)