You may see it resting by day on fences and the trunks of trees, and
after dark it will often come flying into a lighted room. Or you may
notice it darting round and round street-lamps by night, and doing its
very best to burn itself in the dazzling flame. And the caterpillar is
even commoner in gardens than that of the “tiger” moth. It is really
a sort of small “woolly bear,” for its body is covered all over with
brown hairs. But you can always tell it from the real “woolly bear” by
the pale line which runs along the middle of its back. It will feed on
almost any plant in the garden, and is fully grown about the middle of
September, when it spins a silken cocoon, and turns into a dark brown
chrysalis. The moth appears in June.
There is another kind of “ermine” moth, called the “buff ermine,” which
is brownish-yellow in colour instead of white. The caterpillar is dingy
white, with one white line and two dark ones running along its back,
and is covered with pale brown hairs. You may often find it feeding
upon dock leaves. The moth is quite as common as the White Ermine, and
makes its appearance at the same time of the year.
[Illustration: PLATE XXIX
1. Garden Tiger
2. Garden Tiger Caterpillar
3. Cream Spotted Tiger
4. Cream Spotted Tiger Caterpillar]
PLATE XXIX
THE GARDEN TIGER (1 and 2)
Most likely you know the caterpillar of this moth a good deal better
than the moth itself; for you may find it in almost any garden feeding
on the leaves of hollyhocks and all sorts of other plants, while you
can hardly walk along a hedge bank without noticing it upon those of
the dumb-nettles. It is called the “woolly bear,” because it is covered
all over with long brown hairs which look something like the fur of a
bear, and when it has finished growing it spins a silken cocoon amongst
the herbage, in which a number of these hairs are always entangled.
But although it is so common one does not often see the moth. For it
only flies by night, and hides away so cleverly during the day that one
very seldom finds it. But sometimes it will fly through an open window
into a well-lighted room, or cling to a street-lamp and gaze at the
flame for hours together.
A curious fact about this moth is that it varies very much in colour
and markings. Indeed, it would not be very difficult to make a small
collection of “tiger” moths, no two of which should be quite alike. It
appears on the wing in July, and you may find the caterpillar in May
and June.
PLATE XXIX
THE CREAM SPOTTED TIGER (3 and 4)
This is not nearly such a common insect as the “garden tiger.” But at
the same time it is a good deal commoner than it seems, for it is such
a sluggish creature that it very seldom flies, and the consequence is
that one hardly ever sees it. It does not vary very much in colour,
for the front wings are always black, with eight large creamy-white
spots, and the hind-wings are orange-yellow, with six or seven small
black spots, and a big black patch near the margin. The body is black
in front, with a white blotch on each side, and orange-red behind with
a row of black spots down the middle; so the insect is really a very
handsome one indeed.
The caterpillar of this moth is quite as woolly as that of the “garden
tiger.” It is almost black in colour, with a red head and red legs,
while the long hairs which cover its body are brown. It feeds upon
chickweed in September, and again in April and May, and then spins
a silken web, in which it turns to a chrysalis. The moth makes its
appearance about the end of June.
[Illustration: PLATE XXX
1. Gold-Tail
2. Gold-Tail Caterpillar
3. Pale Tussock
4. Pale Tussock Caterpillar]
PLATE XXX
THE GOLD-TAIL (1 and 2)
Of course you know this pretty insect very well indeed by sight, for it
is one of the commonest of all our British moths. You cannot possibly
mistake it for any other, because of its snowy white wings and the
thick tuft of long yellow hairs at the end of its body, from which it
gets its name of “Gold-tail.” In the female moth this tuft is very long
and thick indeed, and she puts it to a most curious purpose. For when
she has laid her eggs she strips off the golden down from her tail and
covers them carefully over with it, leaving the tip of her body almost
bare!
The caterpillars which hatch out of the eggs are most beautiful little
creatures. They are black in colour, with three rows of tiny pimples,
so to speak, on each side, from every one of which springs a little
tuft of hairs. Those of the upper row are jetty-black; those of the
middle row are white; and those of the lower one are bright scarlet.
Besides this, there are two scarlet stripes running down the back, and
just behind the head is a sort of hump, which is bright scarlet also.
You may find these handsome caterpillars on the leaves of hawthorn, and
also on those of plum trees. When they are fully fed they spin a silken
web among the leaves, and turn to chrysalids, out of which the moths
hatch in July.
PLATE XXX
THE PALE TUSSOCK (3 and 4)
You may sometimes see this handsome moth resting on a fence in May, and
“drying” its wings after coming out from the chrysalis. The female is
not quite like the male, for she is generally a good deal larger, with
a very much stouter body, and instead of having a dark brown stripe
across the middle of her wings, as he has, she has two wavy lines, one
rather before the middle, and the other rather beyond it.
The caterpillar of this moth is generally known as the “hop dog”; but
I cannot tell you the reason why, for it feeds a great deal more often
on the leaves of oak, lime, and hazel than it does on those of the hop.
It is one of the loveliest of all our British caterpillars--very hairy,
and of the most delicate pale green colour, with three bands of deep
velvety-black round its body. On its back are four brush-like tufts
of long yellow hairs, pointing forwards, and on its tail is another
still longer tuft of the same colour, which points backwards. When it
is fully grown it spins a very slight silken web among the leaves, and
turns to a hairy chrysalis. You may find it feeding in July and August.
[Illustration: PLATE XXXI
1. Lackey
2. Lackey Caterpillar
3. Vapourer, male
4. Vapourer Caterpillar
5. Vapourer, female]
PLATE XXXI
THE LACKEY (1 and 2)
If you look at the twigs of apple trees during the winter-time you will
sometimes find that they are surrounded by bands of tiny greyish-white
eggs, most neatly arranged in rows, which look just like tiny
bracelets. These are the eggs of the Lackey Moth, and when they hatch
a number of pretty little caterpillars make their appearance, and at
once set to work to spin a big silken web among the leaves, in which
they live. They are rather hairy, and have blue-grey heads with two
black spots which look just like eyes, and bodies striped with white,
and blue, and red, and yellow. And sometimes they are so plentiful that
they strip whole branches, and even whole trees, of their leaves. When
they are fully grown they spin yellow cocoons, in which a quantity of
dust that looks just like powdered sulphur is mixed up, and change to
smooth brown chrysalids, out of which the moths are hatched in July.
Lackey moths vary a good deal in colour, for some are light yellow,
and some are dark yellow, and some are pale brown, and some are
reddish-brown. Indeed, you may often catch six or eight of these moths,
one after the other, and find that no two of them are quite alike.
PLATE XXXI
THE VAPOURER (3, 4, and 5)
On any warm, sunny day from the beginning of August till the middle of
October you may see a little brown moth darting swiftly about, with a
curious zigzag flight. First it flies for a few feet in one direction,
then for a few feet in another direction, and then for a few feet in a
third direction, and always at some little height from the ground. This
is a male Vapourer Moth, and a very pretty little fellow he is, with
bright chestnut-brown wings, and a crescent-shaped white mark in the
middle of the front ones. But his mate is not in the least like him. In
fact, if you were to see her, you would find it very hard to believe
that she was a moth at all; for she has no wings, and looks just like a
very fat grey grub. She is so fat, indeed, that she cannot even walk,
and has to spend her whole life clinging to the cocoon in which she
lived as a chrysalis. And when she has covered this cocoon all over
with her little round white eggs she falls to the ground and dies.
The caterpillar of the Vapourer moth is very common. You may find it
feeding upon the leaves of all sorts of trees and plants in the garden;
and you can tell it at once by the row of little tufts of hair, just
like tiny shaving-brushes, upon its back.
[Illustration: PLATE XXXII
1. Oak Eggar
2. Drinker
3. Drinker Caterpillar]
PLATE XXXII
THE OAK EGGAR (1)
If you walk across a heath or a moor on a hot day in June you may often
see a large brown moth dashing wildly about quite close to the ground.
This is almost sure to be a male Oak Eggar. You can always tell him
from the female by his deep chestnut-brown wings, hers being light
brownish-yellow. And besides that, she is a good deal larger than he
is, and has a very much stouter body.
The caterpillar of this moth is a big brown creature, which you may
find feeding upon the leaves of hawthorn bushes in May. You cannot
possibly mistake it for that of any other insect, for its body is
covered all over with short yellow down, just like fur. If you touch
it, or frighten it in any way, it at once drops to the ground and
curls itself up into a ring; and then you notice a number of black
bands round its body, which are really formed by the dark skin showing
through the fur.
Early in June this caterpillar spins a dark brown cocoon and changes to
a brown chrysalis, out of which the moth hatches about a fortnight or
three weeks later.
PLATE XXXII
THE DRINKER (2 and 3)
This seems rather an odd name to give to a moth, doesn’t it? But it
really belongs to the caterpillar, which you may often see drinking
the dewdrops on the long grass on which it feeds. It is a very hairy
caterpillar, of a dark brown colour, with yellow spots and streaks upon
its sides, and little tufts of short white down between them. I would
advise you to be very careful in handling it, for its long hairs have
a way of working themselves into one’s skin, and causing big swellings
and a great deal of irritation. Indeed, if you were to rub your eyes
after handling one of these caterpillars, you would run a good deal of
risk of losing your sight!
Drinker caterpillars are very common indeed in some places, and you
may often see them feeding on the long grass by the roadside in May.
About the beginning of June they spin shuttle-shaped yellow cocoons,
which are always fastened to stout grass-stems, and turn to dark brown
chrysalids, out of which the moths hatch in July. The male moth, like
that of the “oak eggar,” is a good deal smaller than the female, and is
much darker in colour.
[Illustration: PLATE XXXIII
1. Lappet
2. Lappet Caterpillar]
PLATE XXXIII
THE LAPPET (1 and 2)
When this moth first hatches out of the chrysalis it is really a very
beautiful insect, for although the wings are reddish-brown all over,
they have a kind of purple bloom on them, just like that on a ripe
plum. But after a day or two this bloom always gets worn off. The
moth is not at all an uncommon one, and yet one hardly ever sees it.
The reason is that when it sits with its wings folded together over
its back, as it almost always does, it is exactly like a dead leaf.
You might look straight at it from only a few inches away, and never
imagine for a moment that it was really a moth. And if it is hard to
see the moth, it is still harder to see the caterpillar, which flattens
itself against the branches of blackthorn bushes, and looks just like a
piece of rather rough bark.
You may find this caterpillar--if you look for it _very_ carefully
indeed--in May and June. A little before midsummer it spins a long
blackish cocoon, either among the leaves of its food-plant or amongst
grass quite close to the ground, and changes to a smooth black
chrysalis, out of which the moth appears early in July.
PLATE XXXIV
THE SWALLOW-TAILED MOTH (1 and 2)
You may often see this handsome moth flying about in the garden on
warm evenings in July; and during the daytime you may sometimes shake
it out of ivy, or out of the leaves of a thick bush, in which it has
taken refuge from the unwelcome daylight. It is easy to see why it is
called the “Swallow-tailed” Moth, for on the hind-wings are two little
“tails,” very much like those of the “swallow-tailed butterfly.”
The caterpillar of this moth is one of those which we call “loopers,”
because instead of walking as other caterpillars do, they hunch
themselves up into a sort of loop at every step. And sometimes they are
called “stick-caterpillars,” because their bodies are so like bits of
twig that as long as they do not move it is very difficult indeed to
see them.
If you shake the branches of a tree in summer-time you will generally
see several of these caterpillars swinging in the air, each at the end
of a silken thread; and if you want to find that of the Swallow-tailed
Moth you should look for it on willow, and lime, and elder, and pear
trees. When it is fully grown it spins a cocoon just like a little
hammock, and turns to a light brown chrysalis spotted with black.
[Illustration: PLATE XXXIV
1. Swallow-tail Moth
2. Swallow-tail Caterpillar
3. Emperor
4. Emperor Caterpillar]
PLATE XXXIV
THE EMPEROR (3 and 4)
This is one of the handsomest of all our British moths, and the
caterpillar is even more beautiful than the moth. For it is of the
brightest apple-green colour, with ten or eleven velvety-black rings
round its body; and every ring has a number of raised pink spots upon
it, with six black bristles springing from each spot, and spreading
outwards in the form of a star. You may often find it on bramble-leaves
early in September, and it also feeds on blackthorn, willow, and heath.
When this lovely caterpillar has reached its full size, it spins a most
curious cocoon, shaped something like a little flask, with a number of
bristles inside the entrance arranged in such a way, that while the
moth can crawl out quite easily when it is ready to hatch, none of its
enemies can crawl in. In this cocoon the chrysalis lies all through the
winter, and the moth makes its appearance in April, when you may often
see it flying about in the sunshine on heaths and commons. The male is
rather smaller than the female, and you can always recognise him by his
brighter colouring, and his beautifully plumed feelers.
PLATE XXXV
THE BRIMSTONE MOTH (1)
There is a Brimstone Moth, just as there is a “brimstone butterfly,”
and you may find it very commonly indeed in almost any part of the
country, and at almost any time from April until October, or even
November. During the daytime it generally hides away among the leaves
of ivy, or of some thick bush, like the “swallow-tailed moth.” But you
may sometimes see it resting on a fence, or on the trunk of a tree; and
after dark it often comes flying into a lighted room through an open
window. The caterpillar feeds on hawthorn, and blackthorn, and apple,
and sometimes on bramble. It is pale brown in colour, with a bluish
spot on each side of its neck, and with three little humps on its back,
just like the tiny leaf-buds on a bit of twig. So although it is so
common you will not find it unless you look very carefully indeed, and
even the sharp eyes of the insect-eating birds often pass it by. As
soon as it reaches its full size it spins a thick silken cocoon and
turns into a brown chrysalis, out of which the moth appears two or
three weeks later.
[Illustration: PLATE XXXV
1. Brimstone
2. Canary-Shouldered Thorn
3. Pepper and Salt]
PLATE XXXV
THE CANARY-SHOULDERED THORN (2)
There are several different kinds of “Thorn” moths, but you can always
tell the Canary-Shouldered Thorn from the others by just looking at the
middle part of its body, which is thickly covered with very long hairs
of a bright canary yellow. It appears on the wing in August, and is
very fond of flying into a lighted room after dark. Sometimes, too, it
will sit on the glass of a street-lamp and remain there all night long
without moving, gazing at the flame within. If it can get inside the
lamp, it will often burn its wings so badly that it cannot fly away.
And just now and then you may find it sitting on a fence, or on the
trunk of a tree.
The caterpillar of this moth is one of the “loopers,” and is dark brown
in colour, with lighter markings, and with two little humps on its
back. Look for it on the leaves of birch, lime, elder, oak, and fruit
trees during the month of June. About the first week in July it spins
a little silken cocoon, and turns into a light brown chrysalis, with a
few whitish markings.
PLATE XXXV
THE PEPPER AND SALT MOTH (3)
No doubt you will think that this is rather an odd name to give to
a moth, but it is a very suitable one, for the wings of this insect
really do look very much as if they had been first covered with salt,
and then sprinkled thickly with black pepper. But it varies a good deal
in its markings, for sometimes the wings look as if they were nearly
all salt, and sometimes they look as if they were nearly all pepper.
And if the moth is caught in the north of England or in Scotland,
strange to say, it is nearly always much darker than when it is caught
in the south.
The caterpillar, too, varies almost as much in colour as the moth.
Sometimes it is reddish-brown; sometimes it is greenish-brown;
sometimes it is yellowish-brown. But it always looks very much like a
piece of stick; and it always has eight raised reddish spots on its
back, which look just like buds before they begin to burst into leaf.
You may find it in August, feeding on the leaves of lime, birch, and
oak trees. In September it buries itself in the ground, and changes
to a rather fat brown chrysalis, out of which the moth appears in the
following May.
[Illustration: PLATE XXXVI
1. Willow Beauty
2. Large Emerald]
PLATE XXXVI
THE WILLOW BEAUTY (1)
I am sorry to say that I cannot tell you why this moth is called the
“Willow Beauty.” For, in the first place, it is not a very beautiful
insect. Both its front and hinder wings are greyish-brown all over,
with a few wavy black lines running across them, and one pale zigzag
streak near the outer margin. Certainly, one would hardly call it a
“beauty.” And then, in the second place, it has nothing to do with
willow trees; for its grey, twig-like caterpillar feeds on the leaves
of rose-bushes, and plum trees, and pear trees, and birch trees, and
sometimes on those of lilac and elder, but never on the leaves of
willows.
This moth is a very common one indeed in all parts of the country, and
from the middle of June until the beginning of August you may see it in
numbers, resting with outspread wings on fences and tree-trunks during
the day, and fluttering round gas-lamps in the evening.
There is another moth which is very like the “willow beauty,” but is
nearly twice as big, and is rather lighter in colour. This is called
the “great oak beauty,” and you may sometimes see it resting on the
trunks of oak trees in June.
PLATE XXXVI
THE LARGE EMERALD (2)
The “emeralds” are pale green moths with very delicate wings, and the
Large Emerald is the finest and most beautiful of them all. It is
almost as large as the “swallow-tail moth,” and when it first comes out
of the chrysalis its wings are of the most lovely green colour, with
three wavy white lines across the front pair, and a scalloped white
line and a row of white dots across the hinder ones. But after two
or three days it begins to fade; and if you were to put it away in a
collection you would most likely find after a few months that it was
nearly white.
The Large Emerald is not a very common moth, but you may sometimes
find it by shaking bushes and the branches of trees in June and July.
The caterpillar feeds on the leaves of birch and elm, and is green in
colour, with a yellow line along each side, and six pairs of little
reddish bumps which look like tiny buds. About the end of May it forms
a kind of cocoon by spinning together two or three leaves of its
food-plant, and turns into a brownish-green chrysalis, with two rows of
reddish spots on its back.
[Illustration: PLATE XXXVII
1. Bordered White, male
2. Bordered White, female
3. Magpie
4. Magpie Caterpillar]
PLATE XXXVII
THE BORDERED WHITE (1 and 2)
If you want to find this handsome moth, the best way to do so is to
shake the branches of fir trees with a long stick during the month of
May. Then you are almost sure to see it flying off in a great hurry to
seek for refuge somewhere else. But it never seems quite happy unless
it can hide away among the needle-like leaves of a fir tree. The male
is very different in appearance from the female, for his wings are
either white or yellowish-white in colour, with a broad black border,
while hers are orange-brown all over, with only two narrow dark bands.
And, besides that, his feelers are beautifully plumed, while hers are
just like threads. In fact, the male and female are so unlike one
another that, if you did not know what they were, you would be almost
sure to take them for two perfectly different insects.
The caterpillar of this moth is a very pretty little creature of a pale
green colour, with a broad white line along the back and a bluish-white
line below it; then a yellow line below that; and then a row of orange
spots. You may sometimes find it in August, feeding on the leaves of
fir trees.
PLATE XXXVII
THE MAGPIE MOTH (3 and 4)
This is called the Magpie Moth because its wings are chiefly black and
white in colour, like the plumage of a magpie. But there are two orange
bands on the front wings as well, and the body is orange, spotted with
black. It varies a good deal in colouring however, for sometimes there
are hardly any black markings on the wings, and sometimes there are
hardly any white ones. And just now and then you may meet with a very
odd Magpie Moth indeed, with the wings on one side of its body a good
deal larger than those on the other!
This is a very common moth indeed, and you may shake it out of the
bushes in almost any garden in July and the early part of August. And
you may also find its caterpillars feeding on the leaves of currant and
raspberry and gooseberry bushes. It is creamy-white in colour, with
rows of large black spots, and a yellow stripe along each side, and
turns into a dark brown chrysalis with orange bands round it. And it
seems to have a very nasty taste, for no bird will ever attempt to eat
it.
This insect is sometimes known as the Currant Moth.
[Illustration: PLATE XXXVIII
1. Spring Usher
2. Winter Moth, male
3. Winter Moth, female]
PLATE XXXVIII
THE SPRING USHER (1)
This very pretty moth is one of the first to make its appearance after
the winter is over, for you may see it resting on fences and walls in
March, and sometimes even in February. But you may easily pass it by
without noticing it, for it is very fond of sitting among splashes of
mud, which it resembles so much that you may look straight at it from
a distance of only a few feet, without seeing what it really is. It
varies in colour almost as much as the magpie moth, for sometimes it is
nearly white all over, and sometimes it is nearly black; but generally
the wings are greyish-white, with a few narrow black stripes.
When you see one of these moths, however, you may be quite sure that
it is a male; for the female has no wings at all, and looks just like
a little greyish-white grub, with six rather long legs. She lays her
eggs on the twigs of oak trees, and the little caterpillars hatch out
in May. I cannot describe them, for they are all sorts of different
colours, so that you may easily find fifteen or twenty, no two of which
are quite alike.
PLATE XXXVIII
THE WINTER MOTH (2 and 3)
This is perhaps the very commonest of all our British moths. It
simply swarms in all parts of the country, and on any mild day from
the beginning of November till the end of January you may see it in
hundreds, resting on fences and tree-trunks. And after dark it visits
almost every street-lamp, and sits on the glass gazing at the flame
within. But if you want to see the female you must look for her very
carefully, for she is a little grub-like creature with hardly any wings
at all, very much like that of the “spring usher,” except that she is
brown instead of white. You may often find her hiding in the cracks of
the bark of fruit trees, to which the caterpillars sometimes do a very
great deal of damage.
These caterpillars differ a good deal in colouring, for sometimes they
are light green, and sometimes they are dark green, and sometimes they
are smoky brown. But they always have a black stripe down the back, and
three white ones on either side. There is hardly a tree or a bush on
the leaves of which they do not feed, and in May and June you may often
see them in thousands and thousands.
[Illustration: PLATE XXXIX
1. Mottled Umber, male
2. Mottled Umber, female
3. Mottled Umber Caterpillar]
PLATE XXXIX