Teich. Ab. ochrea, Tutt, is of a reddish-tinged ochreous colour with clearly defined cross lines; and ab. rufa, Tutt, is red with distinct cross lines. Perhaps the rarest form of all is ab. nigra, Tutt, which in ground colour is deep blackish grey, with the cross lines faint.
The caterpillar is green with black, glossy, raised dots, each encircled with white; there are three whitish lines along the back, the central one rather wider than the other two; a pale yellowish line along the area of the black spiracles; head, green, tinged with dark brown or black about the jaws. It feeds, from April to June, on the foliage of elm, oak, sallow, and other trees and shrubs; also, be it noted, on other caterpillars. The larvæ hunter should therefore get to know this cannibal on sight, so that he may exclude it from the common receptacle.
The moth, which frequents woods and woody country generally, is out in July and August.
The species appears to be common throughout England and Wales, the south of Scotland, and more or less frequent northwards up to Moray. It is widely spread in Ireland.
Angle-striped Sallow (Cosmia paleacea).
From the typical pale yellowish ochre, the fore wings range in tint to a deeper buff, inclining to orange. The transverse lines are brown, or sometimes reddish, but are not always distinct, especially in the male. The stigmata are not infrequently obscure, but the blackish spot of the reniform is generally present. In some examples, chiefly of the female sex, there is an angulated dark shade crossing the central area, and some dark clouds or dashes on the outer area. (Plate [4], Fig. 1 ♂.)
The caterpillar is pale dingy green, dusted with whitish, and yellow between the rings; three white lines along the back, and a double white line along the region of the purplish-edged white spiracles; head, pale yellow, the jaws black, and a small red
spot on each side above them. (Adapted from Porritt.) It feeds, from April to June, on the foliage of birch and aspen, and may be found in the daytime between the lower leaves.
The moth flies in August and September, and at night will visit the sugar patch and also heather blossom. It has but few fixed localities in England, and these are chiefly in Nottinghamshire (Sherwood Forest), and Yorkshire (woods near Doncaster, Huddersfield, and Sheffield). There are, however, records of its occurrence in the south of England. Stainton obtained one at Lewisham in 1846, and Barrett notes one at Highgate in 1870. One or two specimens have occurred in Essex, Somersetshire, and Gloucestershire. From its headquarters in Notts and Yorks. it seems to find its way occasionally into some of the adjoining and other counties. Forsythe states that he bred the moth from larvæ obtained from oak at Methop, Lancs., and it has been reared from a caterpillar taken in North Shropshire. It has occurred on Cannock Chase, Staffs., and rarely in Worcestershire.
From Porritt's List of the Lepidoptera of Yorkshire we learn that the occurrence of this species in Yorkshire was not noted until 1880 (Doncaster), but it seems to have since extended its range in the county, as in 1900 it was found in the Huddersfield district, and a few specimens occurred near York in 1903. As stated, it has been bred at Methop, Lancs., and, according to Barrett, it is not scarce in Cumberland. Southwards from its Yorkshire and Nottinghamshire headquarters it has been noted, more or less rarely, in Staffordshire, Shropshire, Worcestershire, Gloucestershire, and Somerset; and on the east side in Lincoln, Norfolk, Essex, and Kent. In Scotland it appears to be not uncommon in Moray, and it is occasionally recorded from Inverness and Perth. The range abroad extends to Amurland and to North America.