On Woodcut XLIX. Fig. 2, is drawn the Moth which is properly called the Grey ScALLorED Bar {Scodiona belgiana), which is an example of the family Fidonidse.

In this insect there is a very marked distinction between the sexes. In the male, the upper wings are greyish-white, and covered with a number of black marks, whose shape and number can be seen by reference to the illustration. The female is blackish-grey instead of white, but the black markings are nearly the same. In the male the antennae are feathered, and in the female they are simple and thread-like.

The larva of this Moth feeds on the common ling {Golluna vulgaris), which is so much used for thatching, for rude but strong ropes, for broom making, and for a good yellow dye. Like many other larvae, if alarmed, it falls at once to the ground, coils itself in a ring, and will lie motionless for hours together. Its colour is dull-brown, with a few grey mottlings, and one or two small streaks of white. It is full-fed at the beginning of May, and the perfect insect appears at the end of the same month.

Quiet and simple-looking as is the Winter JMoth {Gheimatobia brumata), which is represented on Woodcut L. Fig. 1, there are few of our British insects which do more harm to the trees, especially the fruit-trees.

The colour of the upper wings is greyish-brown, more or less tinged with yellow, and marked with a few waved transverse bars of a darker tint. The lower wings ai-e much the same colour, but almost without markings. Owing to its peculiar habits, this is one of our most familiar INIoths. It appears in the cold months of November and llecember, and on a sunshiny

day may be seen flitting along the hedges in perfect content, even though the ground be thickly covered with snow.

The female, though really the more important of the two, is seldom noticed. Her wings are mere rudiments, and she is unable to fly. She only appears at night, when she crawls up the stems of trees for the piu’pose of depositing her eggs upon them. When the little caterpillars are hatched, they make tlieir way to tha unopened buds and burrow into them, thus

Cheimatobm 4. bn^ata. Melamppe 2. Oporabia clilatata. 3. montana. g. Molanthia albicillata. Melanippe hastat

at the same time concealing themselces from sight, and doing all the ham of which so tiny a creature is capable. It is in search of these caterpillars that the small birds, more espe cia ly the bullfinch and chaffinch, pick off and devour fhe selves” to S mther r” 1 ““tain caterpillars, but that they act lathei at random, picking off a bud first, and afterwards

looking to see wliether or not it contains a caterpillar. Still, the good that they do very much counterbalances the harm, and the little birds should he allowed to have their own way with the fruit-trees. The late Mr. Waterton would never allow a single little bird ever to he scared from his trees, much less killed, and I never saw anywhere better prospects of heavy crops.

Various plans have been tried to exterminate these mischievous caterpillars. Being silk-spinners, they lower themselves by their threads when alarmed, and, by taking advantage of this habit, the gardener can kill great numbers of the larvae by simply tapping the boughs so as to frighten the caterpillars from their food. But ‘ prevention is better than cure,’ and, on account of the structure and habits of the female, she can generally be prevented from depositing her eggs. Had she wings, nothing could be done ; but as she is wingless, and is forced to climb up the trunks of trees before she can lay her eggs, it is mostly possible to prevent her from doing so. If the trunks of the trees be kept smeared with a sticky compound, renewed as soon as it begins to harden, vast numbers of the female can be interrupted in their march up the tree, and detained until they are slaughtered by the gardener.

Then, at night, the gardener should examine the trunks of all trees by the aid of a lantern, and he will be sm'e to find a number of female Winter Moths, each desirous of depositing her stock of two hundred eggs. I should fancy tliat birdlime might be useful. A rnixture of Stockholm tar and cart-grease has been recommended ; but if I had any standard fruittrees, especially plums, greengages, or filberts, I should try the efihcacy of bird-lime. In this part of the country, where cherry orchards abound, the fruit-growers paint the trunks of the trees with whitewash mixed with weak size. This process may or may not be efficacious, but there is no doubt that it is very unsightly, making the otherwise beautiful cherry-orchard an absolute eyesore.

When the caterpillar has become too large to be contained within the bud, it turns its attention to the young leaves, fixing its silken threads to flieir edges, and drawing two or three together, so as to form a sort of tent, in which it lives.

It is not at all particular as to the tree on which it feeds,

and, although it certainly prefers fruit-trees, may he found on

almost every tree which is grown in England. The caterpillar is full-fed about May, and then descends to the ground, in which it burrows to a very little depth, and there changes to a

pupa.

Closely allied to the Winter Moth is the November Moth {Oporabia dilatata), which is shown on Woodcut L. Fig. 2.

It is a prettier insect than the preceding, and exceedingly variable in its markings, so that different names have been given to the most common variations, no less than seven such names having all been referred to this single species. The ground colour of the wings is mostly blackish-grey, and the waved lines which cross them are blackish-brown, the lower wings being paler than the upper pair. This Moth is very common, and may be found in the month from which it takes its popular name. The caterpillar, like that of the Winter Moth, is a general feeder, and can be found on almost any tree. It IS full-fed somewhere about midsummer. Its general colour is velvety green with a white stripe behind the spiracles, and it is often marked with purple, especially towards the end of the body.

On Woodcut L. Fig. 5, is shown the Beaetifhl Carpet [Melanthia alhicillata).

This IS a singularly beautiful insect, the colours, though not brilliant, being arranged and contrasted in a most charming manner. The upper wings are cream-white, and on each of them are two rich brown patches, one at the base and another on the costal margin near the tip. The hind margin is dusky and upon it are drawn two deHcate waved grey streaks. _ The caterpillar is nearly as pretty as the perfect insect. It is deep velvet-hke green, and in the middle of the body is a row of orange-brown spots. It feeds on the bramble, full-grown at the end of summer. and is

Next comes that very striking insect called appropriately onVoodc” oodcut ‘j”",, L. 1 ig. 3. “ taata), which if showf As may be inferred from the name

the colours of this Moth are entirely black and white, mostly arranged as seen in the illustration, though there is some variation in different specimens. Even the body is black and white, and the very antennae are black, with white rings.

The larva is rather variable, but is generally very dark brown, with a series of small black dots along each side, and anotlier row of crescent-shaped white marks below the spiracles, each of which is suiTounded with a white ring. It feeds on several trees and plants, such as the birch, and always lives in concealment, drawing together with silk the leaves of the plant on which it feeds, and living within this shelter. It is full-fed towards the middle of the autumn, and the perfect insect appears | at the beginning of the following summer. j

Another species of this beautiful genus is shown on the same j Woodcut, Fig. 4. This is tlie Silver G-round Carpet {Mela- | nippe montana).

The upper wings of this Moth are cream-white, and across them is drawn an irregular stripe of dark ochre-grey, which mostly has a whitish patch upon it near the costal margin of the wing. There is a small triangular patch of similar colour at the base of the wing. There is a smoky grey edging to

markings look rather too black in the figure. The larva feeds , on the common primrose, and is pale brown, covered with a ? variety of markings, the most conspicuous of which are three | large black spots shaped something like the letter V, upon the | r-. seventh, eighth, and ninth segments. The caterpillai is full- v fed about the end of March or beginning of April. All the | Moths represented in this Woodcut belong to the family of the | Larentidse. i

On Woodcut LI. Fig. 1, is shown the Eotal Mantle {An- , a name which was given to the little INIoth on ■ ticlea sinuata), account of the beauty of its colouring. The markings of this pretty insect are so many and so complicated that they cannot fully be described, but are generally as follows. The ground colour of the upper wings may be considered as creamy grey, and at the base is a large triangular patch, divided by several | bars • of a lighter ” colour. Towards the tip of the wing is a | 'ii

blackish patch, and the rest of the wing is taken up with zigzagged and scalloped lines drawn as seen in the illustration. There is a great resemblance between the various members of this genus, and one or two, such as the Flame Moth (Anticlea mhidata) and the Shoeldek Stripe (^Anticlea hadiata), are so much alike that a sharp eye is required to distinguish the one from the other.

The larva of this Moth feeds on the Lady’s Bedstraw {Galium verum), and the colour is green with two black stripes along

Anticlca Einimta. ^ 2. Scotosia ccrtata. 3. Cidaria sagittata. 4. Chesias spartiata. 5, Tanagra chasrophyllata.

tlie back. Tliere are numbers of little black hairs scattered over tlie whole body. About the middle of autumn it is fulled, and then spins for itself a web among the leaves of its ood-plant. It passes the winter in the pupal state, and appears ti-s a Aloth in the summer of the following year.

A VERT pretty insect belonging to this large family is the Scarce Tissue {Scotosia certata) which is represented on Woodcut LI. Fig. 2.

This is a larger Moth than the others. The hind margin of both pairs of wings is scalloped, that of the upper pair very slightly, and that of the under pair more boldly cut. The specific name of sinuata, or waved, is given to the insect in consequence of these scallopings of the wings. The colour of the wings is pale grey brown, and across them are drawn a number of irregular bars, as shown in the illustration. Just inside the hind margin of both pairs of wings runs a narrow black line, following the outline of the scalloping.

The larva feeds on the barberry, and regarding it Mr. Newman makes the following remarks : ‘ When young they spin together two leaves of the barberry, adjusting the edges with so much care that the two leaves look like one. The back of the upper leaf I always find applied to the face of the lower, and between these leaves the enclosed caterpillar rests in a curved posture, the head brought round to touch the side of the tenth segment, but the caterpillar always resting on its ventral surface, and not ring-fashion. In this retreat it eats the cuticle and parenchyma of the upper leaf, its operations always betraying its whereabouts by the appearance of a large brown blotch on the surface.’

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