MOTHS AND BUTTERFLIES. 



448 



The vagabond Crambus (Omnibus vulgivagettus) of North America expands 

 abont an inch ; and the fore-wings are of a light ochre-yellow color, sprinkled Avith 

 fuscous scales between the veins. There is a terminal row of black dots, and the 

 fringes are golden with a metallic luster. The hind wings are pale clay yellow. The 

 eggs have a reticulated surface, and are pale yellow when laid, but change in a few 

 days to bright orange. The mature caterpillar is about three-fourths of an inch long, 

 pale purplish green, with a black head, and with the shield and tubercles on the seg- 

 ments of the body brown. They are nocturnal in their habits, and form a silken tube 

 covered with their greenish castings, near the roots of the grass. When done feeding, 

 they leave these tubes and spin delicate cocoons just beneath the surface of the ground, 

 and pass their transformations in this state. The genus Argyria includes a small 

 number of most lovely species, whose fore-wings are snowy white with a beautiful 

 satin lustre, and marked with bright orange. They frequent grassy spots, and the 

 caterpillars probably feed on the grasses. These moths are mainly confined to North 

 and South America, though one or two species haVe been found in other parts of the 

 world. 



FIG. 562. Galleria mellonella, bee-moth. 



The only species of the genus Galleria which needs mention is the bee-moth. 

 Galleria mellonella is a great pest to apiculturists in all parts of the world where it 

 has been introduced ; for the caterpillars are often very numerous in the hives, and 

 run their silk-lined galleries in all directions through the wax, on which they feed, de- 

 stroying the cells and rendering the whole mass foul, much to the discouragement of 

 the bees. These caterpillars are about an inch in length, dirty white, with brownish 

 heads and thoracic shields, and with a few scattered hairs over their bodies. At 

 maturity they crawl into some corner or crevice of the hive, where they spin their 

 tough, whitish cocoons in which they pass their transformations. The moth expands 

 an inch or a little more, and the fore wings, which are dusty gray, and more or less 

 streaked with purplish brown, are scalloped on the outer margin. When at rest they 

 close the wings along the sides of the body, like the roof of a house. There are two 

 broods in a year, and the winter is passed in the pupa state. 



The gooseberry fruit-worm (Dakruma convolutelhi), which occurs both in Europe 

 and America, has an expanse of nearly an inch. The fore wings are pale gray, 

 crossed near the base by a dark diffuse band, which is divided by a whitish line. The 

 outer part of the wing is darker gray, with a zigzag whitish line, and a terminal row of 



