Though not so strikingly handsome an insect as its larger

relative, the Sallow Kitten is really a pretty Moth. The

upper wings are greyish white, traversed by a number of

black-grey streaks arranged as seen in the illustration, one or two of them being accompanied by a line of yellow. The lower wings of the male are pure white, clouded with grey and having a few blackish spots, while those of the female are mostly dusky. The thorax is coloured like the upper wings, and is crossed transversely by three bars of black and yellow. , The larva is shaped and coloured very much like that of the Puss Moth, but may be recognised by the shape of the body with its deeply forked end. When the larva is full-fed, it spins a cocoon much like that of the Puss Moth, and the perfect insect appears in June.

On Woodcut LII. Fig. 2, is drawn a Moth which in the perfect state does not attract much attention, but which, as a larva, is one of the most extraordinary beings that England possesses. In fact, supposing that the creature were not known, no artist would dare to figure so bizarre an object ; for if he did so, all the entomologists would be in arms against him, and say that such a creature could not possibly exist.

The shape and markings of the insect can be seen by reference to the illustration, and as the wings are merely greybrown marked with a darker tint, they need not be described in detail. The figure represents a male. The female is similarly coloured, but is larger, and her antennae are threadlike and without the feathering.

Now we come to the larva, which is shown at F'ig. a of the same illustration. The three remarkable characteristics of this larva are the enormously long legs, so unlike the short, feeble legs of most caterpillars ; the high and pointed humps of the middle segments, and the enormously developed thirteenth, or last segment, with its double, club-shaped horns.

The attitude in which it is represented is that which it assumes when at rest. The colour is reddish-brown, profusely spotted with minute dots of a paler hue, and there are two slight blackish stripes along the back, and a grey stripe between them. There are also a few black marks on the sides of the body. This extraordinary H H 2 caterpillar feeds on oak and

beech, and, when it is full-fed, which occurs about the end of |l September, it spins together several leaves, and within them H makes its cocoon. At the beginning of winter the leaves fall, [I but the habitation which the caterpillar has made is so formed ■ that it protects the inmate from the shock of the fall, which, M however is but slight, as the dry, withered leaves and enclosed ■ cocoon are very light, and only come fluttering gently to the M ground. The perfect insect appears in June. It is not a common H Moth, and is never found in the northern parts of England. ■

The scientific name of this insect is Stauropus fagi, and its ■ popular title, the Lobster Moth. Both names refer to the I caterpillars. The word Stauropus, or stake-footed, refers I to the great length of the legs, which almost look as if they were slender sticks projecting from the larva ; and the name of Lobster Moth is given to it because the larva is thought to resemble a lobster rather than an ordinary caterpillar, the uplifted and enlarged last segment doing duty for the claw.

The very common and really handsome Moth, the Buef-tip {Pygmra bucephala) is drawn on Woodcut XLVII. Fig. 1, page 439. The figure represents a male with its wings spread.

The upper wings of this Moth are beautifully coloured with various shades of grey, crossed with bars and bands of different browns, mixed here and there with ochreous yellow, and a slight purplish gloss along the costal margin. At the taking tip of each wing is a large buff blotch, marked off from the rest of the wing by two dark-brown lines enclosing a grey line them. The buff blotch has on it a few markings of between deeper hue. The hind wings are paler greyish ochre, and the | whole of the under surface is of the same colour, with the j exception of a dark bar crossing the lower wings diagonally, ; to the upper wings. The thorax is i and a dark hind margin gold-coloured down, and nearly ; large, covered with dense, conceals the head. this Moth presents a very curious aspect.

When at rest, against the body which they cover, the The wings are pressed exactly balancing at one end the two yellow spots at their tips at the other. The large thorax itself looks very yellow thorax on that account the specific name ot much like a head, and has been given to the insect. In bucephala, or ‘ bull-headed,’

V consequence of the peculiar aspect of the quiescent attitude, i

the Buflf-tip Moth often escapes observation, as most persons I' S

would mistake it for a piece of dried stick.

The caterpillar feeds upon the lime, the elm, the hazel, and

one or two other trees, and often does considerable damage. It

is semi-social in its habits, and, though plentiful, is not often

seen until full-fed, in consequence of its peculiar idiosyncrasies.

The eggs are laid in batches, sometimes as many as sixty in

number, on the upper part of a leaf, and when hatched, the i

little caterpillars belonging to each brood remain together, and feed on the upper surface of the leaf. After their first change j ] of skin, they break up into six or seven small companies, and each company remains together until the change into the pupal state is at hand. As they become larger they make their way to the topmost branches, where they work great havoc among the leaves, often leaving bough after bough completely denuded of foliage.

When full-fed they separate, and each caterpillar makes its way down the tree, and starts off on its travels in search of a resting-place in which it can pass its pupal state of existence. Being very numerous and very conspicuous, these caterpillars are familiar to most residents in the country. They go resolutely in their search, making their way over everything in their path, utterly careless of observation. In some places they aie so numerous that they become a positive nuisance, and, indeed, I do not know any creature which has a gTeater talent for getting in the way.

Towards tlie beginning of August these caterpillars begin to show themselves, and anyone who wishes to rear the Moth from the caterpillar may procure as many as he likes. Last year (1870) they grievously offended tidy housekeepers by their i intrusion. It was hardly possible to set foot outside the door i without crushing one or two of them on the white door-step t and, not content ivith infesting the steps and paths, they j crawled into the houses, and travelled over carpets and oili cloths as determinately as if they had been traversing the t fields. When at last they have suited themselves with a spot ) which seems to them a favourable one, they throw off the last cateipillar skin, and change into smooth brown pupse. These pupfe are wonderfully hardy, enduring the frost of winter

without the least protection, and emerging in the perfect state in the early summer of the following year. Pupae so exposed are naturally liable to destruction. Uncounted thousands are eaten by birds, and, indeed, were it not for the destruction that awaits the larger proportion of the larvae as they travel in scarcli of resting-places, and the havoc that is made among them in the pupal state, their armies would be so enormous that scarcely a forest tree would survive their ravages.

The colour of the caterpillar is yellow, covered with a . number of short longitudinal black bars arranged in nine rows, as seen at Woodcut XLVII. Fig. a. The pupa is remarkable , forked apparatus at the end of the tail. for the doubly

Next comes a family of Moths called Notodontidse, or Tooth- . backs, because the backs or inner margins of the upper wings | or have elevated portions along the inner margins, ? are toothed, which they derive the popular name of Prominents. As i| from of these Moths we will take the Ikon Prominent | an example the male of which is shown on ; {Notodanta di'omedarius), M^oodcut LII. Fig. 3. colouring of this insect is very simple. The ground hue ■

The purplish tinge, upon which is a broad i is brown, with a slight small pale bars, arranged as seen in the ' rust-red streak and two The outlines of all the marking are vague and « illustration. and there is considerable variation in different indistinct^ The lower wings are greyish brown, Avith a dark j individuals. spot on the disc, and two pale and ill-defined bars. although not so bizarre in appearance as that

The caterpillar, Lobster Moth, is yet a very quaint and odd-looking of the of this larva is given at Fig. b on the same creature. A portrait be seen by reference to the figure, the head Woodcut. As may and the second and third segments are is comparatively large, a sort of neck. From the fifth to the ninth so small as to form the back is humped. The colour is rather pretty, seo-ments or less tinged with yellow, and marked wit being green more There are other markings, but the a very deep purple-brown. that minute detail is not shape of the larva is so peculiar needed for its identification. found on the birch, where it remains

This caterpillar maybe which takes place somewhere about the until full-fed, an event

I end of September. It then descends the tree, and beneath it i spins for itself a slight cocoon, which is generally screened from

observation by having a fallen leaf fastened to its upper

siu'face. In this exposed situation it changes into a pupa, and

there lies until the following J une, when it assumes the perfect form. The insect is, and yet is not, a common one. Those entomologists who have not yet learned to look behind the scenes of Natui’e’s theatre reckon the Iron Prominent to he quite a rarity ; while those who have been long accustomed to the practical study of insects and their ways, experience no great diflEculty in obtaining either the moth, the pupa, or the caterpillar, and in consequence consider the Iron Prominent as rather a plentiful insect.

We now come to one of the largest groups of British Moths, the Noctu^, so called because, as a rule, they are exclusively night-fliers, and never, except by accident, appear in the daytime. In these Moths the body is almost always stout and thick, as is the thorax, the hairs of which often rise nearly erect, so as to form a sort of crest. Q-enerally these Moths hide themselves by day, taking advantage of crevices in walls, the bark of trees, old posts, palings, and invariably selecting those which best harmonise with the colour of their closed wings. So close is often the resemblance between the colour of the insect and that of the object on which it rests, that even the most experienced and keenest entomologists often find themselves deceived, and have only detected the well-disguised insect when, by an accidental touch, they have forced it to take flight. Even those species which have their under wings adorned with beautiful colours, have almost invariably tlieir upper wings plainly mottled with brown, grey, black, and dun, so that when they are at rest the splendid under wings are concealed, and their glories veiled by the sombrely tinted upper pair. Many, in fact, most of them, have both pairs of wings coloured in the simplest and least imposing manner, not even aving any bold black, white, or brown markinos on either pair of wings. Consequently, when a number of Noctuje w ich are of about the same size, are collected, it is a very ifEcult matter to refer them to their proper positions, and

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