everything in the room, and really made the inhabitants over quite afraid to admit the little air that ever stirs of the houses Yet, in the midst of all the smoke, the in such localities. dust, the ‘blacks,’ and the other adjuncts of the neighbourhood, Moths fluttered about with wings as purely white as the little had never come within twenty miles of a chimney. if they not pass over without notice the lovely Long-hom -

We must of which we have several examples in England. Tliese Moths, for the extreme length and delicacy of Moths are remarkable being very much longer in the their antennae, these appendages The best known of these is the De males than in the females. de Geerella). This is a truly magnificent Geerean {Adela Even to the naked eye its upper wings are singularly insect. it is examined by the microscope its beautiful, but when Suffice it to say that splendour absolutely baffles description. to be covered with scale armour of the wings then appear every scale taking a rich purple hue in certain burnishe°d gold, insect is turned under the microscope the edges lights. As the being strongest and most con- ^ are deeply purple, this hue fringe of the wings has also a j ' spicuous towards the tips. The tendency to purple. t 4- 1 of this Moth are of enormous lengta. Just at

The antennse rather thick, and have a very slight featheriup the base they are and are so long and so delicate They then suddenly diminish, the threads of a spiders web that that they almost look like to the creature’s head. I^^de^d, I have been casually attached by watching for the flash of li^it have often taken the Moth wave about in the air like from the antennae as they reflected the insect is sitting quietly on a threads of gossamer, while

of tMs Longliorn Moth feeds on the Wood '''The caterpillar yellow with a hlack head

An!Lne, an'd is pale on account of m

the chrysalis is very remarkable,

of In the pupa of old na^

in which the antennas are disposed. down the front ot the antenme lie sti-aight

Lepidoptera would ^^quite iusufflmen

tod^ but such a provision are many times as long

Long-horn, whose antennin

C On examining one of the pupae, it will be found that the \f antennae are led down the body as usual, but are then rolled

spirally round the end of the tail, so as to make quite a bold { knob, thus disposing of their enormous length in a very small 1^ compass.

There is another common and most beautiful species, the i Green Longhorn, in wliich the upper wings are glittering i golden-green, instead of gold-brown and purple. The colour of I the wings much resembles that of the young oak-leaf, on wliich i the Moth loves to sit, and, were it not for the gleam of the ; waving antennae, it might readily escape observation. Both I these species are common in oak copses, and are often taken in I the sweep net when the collector is searching for beetles. Six

species of Long-horn Moths are known to inhabit England, the i two which have been mentioned being the most conspicuous.

As an example of the leaf-rolling Tineae, we will take that

very well-known species which infests the lilac, and is known

by the popular name of the Confluent Barred Moth (Oradllavid syvingella^. It is a pretty little insect, the upper wings

being ochreous and mottled profusely with dark brown, while

near the tip of the wing there is an eye-like mark with a black

centre. The lower wings are greyish-brown. In consequence

of its food it is sometimes called the Lilac Moth.

The caterpillar of this insect undergoes two distinct stages of

larval life, and is at one time a burrower and at another a

leaf-roller. Almost as soon as the egg is hatched, the little

caterpillar, which is then scarcely recognisable without a magnifying-glass, eats its way into the interior of a leaf, and there

remains for some time, feeding on the parenchyma, or soft

substance between the upper and under sides of the leaf.

Before very long it grows too large for this habitation, and

then makes its way into tlie open air, wliere it immediately

sets about preparing a more suitable home. The mode in

which it does so is very curious.

Selecting a rather young and tender leaf, the tiny caterpillar

attaches a number of silken threads to the edges and tip, and ! fastens the other ends of the threads slight to the as middle they may of the be, leaf, ai-e

fixing them in a row, so that they look something like the warp

threads in a loom. These threads,

both strong and elastic, and by their elasticity the tip of the leaf is partially curled over. The caterpillar then pulls at the tightens those that are in the least loose, and so threads, proceeds until the leaf will bend no more. It then goes back to the tip, which is now bent over, fastens another row of threads about the eighth of an inch beyond the first set, and fixes them in the same manner as before. The leaf being now much more bent, the first threads hang loosely, and are again and fastened down. In this way the shortened, tightened, proceeds until it makes the leaf into a hollow roll, caterpillar it may live. When one of these leaf-rolls is newly in which the extreme elasticity of the threads can easily be finished, tested, for the roll can be partly opened, when the threads will be considerably stretched, and as soon as allow themselves to is removed will spring back again to their former tlie force row of these threads may be seen, all set in length. Eow after almost like strips of the finest white regular order, and looking silk.

Woodcut LX. Fig. 2 is shown a mag-nified portrait of

On a most beautiful little Moth named Coleophora ihipennellaM larger than those on Plate XVII. This insect, though apparently about the same size, the long fringes of Fig. 7, is really much them look larger than they really are. As the wings making see by reference to the illustration, the actual the reader may very narrow, and very pointed, their wings are very small, entirely due to the fringe. The colour apparent width being is satiny-white, the few nervm-es are slightly of the upper wings is a tendency to brown towards the tips. yellow, and there of -these wings is grey, with a tinge o The under surface under wings are dark grey. The head reddish-brown. The and the abdomen is grey with a white and thorax are white, tuft at the end of the tail. of this little l\Ioth has already been

The scientific name it has not been recognised by any popular given. Hitherto in allusion to its resemname, so I will call it the Flakelet, blance to a little snow-flake. , j • f Its body is a sort_ caterpillar is a pretty little creature.

The amber-yellow, and its head is black. The |

of dull mark on the back, the tb ..

segment has a large double black

segment lias four black spots, and the last segment has one similar spot. A figm-e of the caterpillar is given on Woodcut LX. Fig. c. Like many of the Tinese larvae, it does not live in the open air, hut makes for itself a kind of case, shaped very much like a pistol. This case is very dark brown, sometimes black, and- stands on its end, the muzzle on the leaf and the but in the air. The caterpillar only protrudes its head from the case, and when alarmed it shrinks entirely within its home, and draws the opening closely against the surface of the leaf. It feeds mostly on the birch, and is quite common in most parts of England. The generic name Coleophora is formed from two Greek words, signifying Sheath-bearer, and alludes to the habit of living within a portable case or sheath.

Theee is, for example, the Coleophora palliatella, a Moth much resembling the preceding species, but larger, its spread of wings being nearly half an inch.

This larva makes a case very much resembling a paper bag tied so as to form a sort of narrow neck and a large irregular bulb. I have bred many of these Moths, and have been extremely interested in the structure of their movable dwelling. To the unassisted eye, it looks merely like a rather irregular piece of blackish membrane, but when the magnifyingglass is brought to bear on it, a very remarkable structm-e is disclosed. If it be examined by means of an ordinary lens, it looks as if made of a vast number of small black scallop shells fastened together at their edges.

If a portion of this case be removed, and placed under a tolerably powerful microscope, the real formation of the case is revealed. It is made entirely of silk, each scallop being formed separately, and joined to its neighboirrs. In some cases the junctions have given way, and the scallops have become partially separated. I have seen a knitted counterpane formed on exactly the same principle technically called the ‘ shell-pattern,’ the scallops having been knitted separately, and then sewn together at their edges. It is quite easy to trace the dates of these little scallops, for those of oldest date are dark and discoloured, while those that are last made are pure white.

On opening this case with a pair of very fine scissors, a second case is found within it, firmly attached to the outer

case by its base, the mouths of the two cases coinciding with each other, and consequently being very thick and strong. This inner case is not the least like the outer one, being nearly , cylindrical, and hardly wider than the neck, except at the ;

where it slightly widens. Owing to the residence of tlie base, within it, the colour of the inner case is much caterpillar darker than that of the outer. It is formed in the same manner, being constructed of a great number of silken scallops.

When the larva is full-fed, it draws the mouth of this double case tightly against the surface of the leaf, and fastens it down_ with a great number of silken bands, always attaching it^ to some nervure, generally the middle nervure, of the leaf. Within this double fortress the larva changes to a pupa, and it assumes the perfect shape does it leave the silkenw not until case in which it passed its larval existence.

Such is a brief description of this very remarkable habita- | tion. I have always found them on the oak, fixed to the ^ of the leaf, and have taken as many as I wanted f upper surface running over Shooter’s Hill, in Kent, where b in a small path of oak underwood brings all oak-loving insectsthe quantity easily to hand. ;

As to the other members of this genus, they all make causes ; more or less curious, but all constructed of the same materials same purpose. That of Coleophora thennella is and for the quite straight, and of a pale-bro\Ti. very long and slender, currucipennella is shaped something like That of Coleophora Fiji club, the neck being very narrow, and the a round-headed large and covered with all sorts of irregular projecbase very tions. The popular name of this Moth is the Little Waggoner, is very much like that of the preceding species, and its colouring are yellow towards the base and except that the nervures towards the tips of the wings. The larva is become brown and has been found upon the leaves of rather a general feeder, hornbeam, and other trees. The larvathe oak, the sallow, the well deserves the name, for it is

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