Six-belted Clearwing (Sesia ichneumoniformis).
The inner and outer margins of the fore wings are tinged with orange, and there is an orange mark on the outer edge of the cross bar; the body of the male has seven yellow belts, and that of the female one less. (Plate [155], Fig. 6.)
The caterpillar feeds in the roots of bird's-foot trefoil (Lotus corniculatus), and kidney vetch (Anthyllis vulneraria); it is full grown about June. July and August are the months for the moth, and its haunts are on chalk downs, and on banks by the sea; it seems partial to the edges of chalk pits, sloping banks, and broken ground of undercliffs, etc. In such places it is to be seen on the wing in the early evening, and, I believe, in the early morning also. It has frequently been obtained by sweeping the net over herbage in the vicinity of the food plants.
Mr. W. H. Flint records (1902) the species from the Forest of Dean district, where, he states, he could easily have captured two dozen a day, as they flew over trefoils, etc.
The species occurs in most of the southern seaboard counties of England, from Kent to Cornwall and including the Isle of Wight; Surrey, Bucks., Essex, and other eastern counties, including Cambridge; and it has been recorded from Yorkshire. On the western side of the country it is found in Somerset, Gloucester, Hereford, Worcester, Staffordshire, and in South Wales.
Thrift Clearwing (Sesia muscæformis).
This is our smallest species of the genus, and it is further distinguished by narrow clear spaces on the blackish, or bronzy, fore wings, three whitish bands on the body, and traces of a whitish line along the middle of the back. (Plate [155], Fig. 7.)
The caterpillar feeds on the roots of thrift or sea-pink (Armeria vulgaris), and is full grown about June. The moth is out in June and July, and seems to have a liking for the flowers of thyme.
This species (also known as philanthiformis, Laspeyres) frequents rocky places on the coasts of Devon (Torquay, Lynmouth, etc.), Cornwall, Wales; Isle of Man; Scotland (Aberdeenshire); and Ireland (Saltee Islands, Wexford, and Seven Heads, Cork. Gregson recorded it from Howth).