SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



141 



A MOTH NEW TO BRITAIN. 



By John T. Cakuington. 



A S stated in the last number of Science-Gossip 

 •'^ {ante p. 131), I had the good fortune to 

 •capture a male example of Calophasia platyptera, 

 Esp., on September 14th last ; and have now the 

 pleasure of giving a natural-size illustration of the 

 specimen. 



It is curious that although we have not the genus 

 Calophasia in our last recognized lists of British 

 lepidoptera, it was so named by an Englishman, 

 the celebrated James Francis Stephens, one of 

 the fathers of entomology. It appears in his 

 " Illustrations of British Entomology " (vol. iii. 

 Haustellata), published in 1829. He named it 

 from the Greek words, KdKov, lignum, and ^dais, 

 apparitio. Stephens introduced into the list of his 

 period a moth named linarice which he placed 

 in his new genus Calophasia, from specimens 

 captured in June, 1817, at Woodside, near Epping, 

 Essex, and obtained whilst fresh by Dr. Leach, 

 who, "with his wonted libe- 

 rality, supplied me with the fine 

 specimen," whence the drawing 

 was made on his accompany- 

 ing plate 29. Dr. Staudinger, 

 in his " Catalogue of European 

 Depidoptera" makes linarice a 

 synonym for Calophasia lunula, 

 Hufn., and Stephens' figure 

 is much like other figures of 

 C. Itmula. Westwood and Humphry, in "British 

 Moths and their Transformations" (vol. i., plate 1., 

 figs. 3, 4 and 12), illustrate linaiia: and its larva, the 

 moth appearing quite different to Stephens' figure, 

 being much more like C. platyptera. These authors, 

 liowever, apparently give linaria as British on 

 Stephens' authority. The latter author, in record- 

 ing linarice, says : " The only examples I have seen 

 of this remarkably conspicuous insect are contained 

 in the collection of the British Museum and in my 

 own cabinet." I am of opinion that several Calo- 

 phasia lunula, under the synonym of linariix, were 

 taken in 1817, as stated, but the species has not 

 appeared in Britain since, and has therefore been 

 omitted from the list of our lepidopterous fauna. 

 The genus now re-appears as British, in my 

 -addition to our list of native lepidoptera. 



Professor Ernst Hofman in " Die Gross- 

 Schmetterdinge Europas," issued in 1894, figures 

 both Calophasia platyptera and C. lunula ; his figure 

 of the former is not drawn from a specimen quite 

 like the one taken by me and figured here, being 

 much darker, though evidently of that species. 



Dr. Staudinger, in his " Catalogue of European 

 JButterflies and Moths," above referred to, enume- 



NOVEMBER, 1S96.— No. 30, Vol. 3. 



Lesser Shark Moth. 

 Calophasia platyptera, Esp. 



rates eight species in Calophasia. He places the genus 

 next but one before the genus CucuIUj ; CUophana 

 intervening with nine species. Therefore, in our 

 British list of lepidoptera, as at present arranged, 

 Calophasia platyptera comes between Xylocampa 

 lithoriza and Cucullia verhasci. 



The description of C. platyptera, as translated 

 by Mr. Kirby in his "European Butterflies and 

 Moths," runs as follows : — " Fore- wings ashy grey, 

 with a brownish shade running from middle of the 

 inner margin to the tip, and slender black nervures 

 and intermediate black streaks in the marginal area, 

 which are intersected by the pale suffused sub- 

 marginal lines. The transverse lines and stigmata 

 are absent ; hind-wings brownish, paler towards 

 the base. Expands i to i^ inches. It inhabits 

 Southern Europe in June, and the larva; resembles 

 that of lunula. The moth flies over flowers in the 

 evening in June, and the larva feeds on Linaria 

 nivea." The larva of C. lunula 

 is " pearly-white, with yellow 

 longitudinal lines, black trans- 

 verse spots on the back, and 

 black spots on the sides ; it 

 feeds in June and August, 

 being double-brooded." Some 

 authorities give platyptera also 

 as double-brooded. 



The exact locality where I 

 took this interesting addition to our lepidoptera 

 was in a rough hedge enclosing an uncultivated 

 field devoted to gravel-pits and brick-making 

 on the south side of the old Shoreham road, a 

 little over three miles from Brighton. It may 

 be reached by train to Portslade station, then 

 take the road running thence northwards, turn 

 sharp to left after proceeding a few hundred 

 yards ; the road then dips considerably down 

 hill. There it will be found to have been arti- 

 ficially raised above the field on the south side 

 and the bank-like hedge facing south is the 

 place where I found the moth. Search should be 

 made next year in late June and July, and again in 

 September for this species, especially on rails, 

 posts, palings, and by beating the hedgerow. 

 The flowers should also be watched at dusk ; in 

 fact the members of the genus Calophasia possess 

 habits similar to the larger " shark-moths." The 

 toad flax and allied plants growing around should 

 be searched for the larva;. 



The European range of this species extends, I 

 believe, into Southern Germany, as its most northern 

 limit. It may be .suggested that it has been arti- 

 ficially introduced with cargoes from the Continent. 



