May 1, 1870.] 



HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



105 



THE PUSS-MOTH. 



{Centra vinula.) 



fTlHE caterpillar of this moth is well worth a 

 -*- passing- notice, as there is a peculiarity in its 

 organization which we find nowhere, else in insect- 

 dom, and which is well expressed in the generic 

 names given it from time to time. Thus the 

 Bavarian zoologist Shrank designated it Cerura 

 (Horn-tail), towards the end of the last century ; in 

 1829, Latreille rechristened it Dicranura (Fork- 

 tail) ; and some years later another distinguished 

 Frenchman, Lamarc, classed it with some other 

 species, under the name of Furcula (Little Fork). 

 All these terms point to a very curious form of tail, 

 which marks this caterpillar. An ordinary cater- 

 pillar, as every one knows, has the tail end of the 

 body of about the same size and appearance as the 

 middle or head ; moreover, it is furnished with two 

 claspers or prolegs, constituting the last of five 

 pairs of these useful members. Not so Cerura; the 

 body fines off into an almost pointed apex, and the 

 anal claspers are converted into a pair of long rough 

 tube-like appendages, each of which contains a thin 

 threadlike process, which the animal can thrust out 

 at will and move rapidly in every direction. This it 

 does when irritated, and it is a fair inference that 

 these whips are a means of defence against parasitic 

 flies and other enemies. The caterpillar's tail 

 being naturally elevated (and the head too, when 

 feeding is not going on), the range of the whips 

 extends pretty well over the whole surface of the 

 body. Although, therefore, these instruments 

 cannot inflict injury, nevertheless their appearance, 

 as they lash the ah", must be sufficiently formidable 

 to a vagrant sand- wasp or a marauding ichneu- 

 mon-fly. 



But Cerura is still further protected by its 

 colour, which is a light green — of that tint so well 

 expressed in botanical language by the word late 

 virens, — with some spots and bars of a brownish 

 hue; so that it looks wonderfully like a leaf care- 

 lessly rolled up, especially in the early part of the 

 summer before the leaves have become dark and 

 dusty. 



If we follow the caterpillar to its chrysalid state, 

 we find it still sheltering itself under the wonderful 

 law of " protective resemblance." As the period of 

 its metamorphosis draws on, the animal selects a 

 spot on a poplar or sallow, and commences to gnaw 

 the bark and wood into fragments. These it 

 cements together by means of a viscous fluid, so as 

 to construct in the end a cocoon of great hardness, 

 so exactly resembling a natural excrescence on 

 the tree itself, that it requires very sharp eyes to 

 detect it. 



I have before me at this moment one of these 

 cocoons which was made under rather curious cir- 

 cumstances. Last summer I brought home a Puss- 



moth larva and placed it in a tumbler with proper 

 food. At the end of three weeks it became restless, 

 left off eating, and wandered rapidly about its 

 prison, evidently looking out for materials where- 

 with to build its cocoon. It so happened that I 

 was unable to get a fitting twig at the moment ; I 

 therefore by way of substitute gave it the bottom 

 half of a common wooden chip box. The cater- 

 pillar appreciated my well-meant efforts, for it crept 

 under the box, and very soon on applying my ear to 

 the tumbler, I could hear a gnawing sound like that 

 given out by a mouse behind a wainscot. On re- 

 versing the box at the end of a few days, I found a 

 neat cocoon fixed firmly to it, and composed of its 

 broken-up fibres. The cocoon was of a dark-brown 

 colour, excessively hard, with an irregular surface, 

 and altogether very similar to a knob or wen so 

 often seen on a tree stem. The little architect 

 completed its work in July ; but the moth has not 

 yet issued from its temporary grave. 

 Havre. W. W. Spicek. 



APTEROUS INSECTS. 



rpHE Rev. W. W. Spicer, in Science-Gossip 

 - 1 - for March, has, in his article on " Apterous 

 Insects," advanced certain statements which are 

 not, I believe, quite in accordance with the views 

 of the best entomologists of the present day. 

 Will Mr. Spicer excuse me, therefore, if I ask 

 him to have a friendly " gossip" on these matters? 

 It will be needless to discuss the question of how 

 many orders of insects there are, save to remark 

 that surely Mr. Spicer understates the number at 

 eight ; ten to twelve being more in accordance with 

 the most modern ideas. Does Mr. Spicer think that 

 the genus Triclwndyla should be removed from the 

 Cicindelidce and placed among the Carabidte, or 

 does he consider that (as would seem from the con- 

 text) the first of these families should be included 

 in the latter, and not hold an independent place as 

 heretofore ? Passing ou to the Lepidoptera, I should 

 be glad to learn the use of perpetuating unintel- 

 ligible and useless "English names" of Lepidoptera ? 

 For how many collectors of moths will know that 

 by the "Mottled Umber" and the " Scarce Umber" 

 are meant Hybernia defoliaria and H. aurantiaria 

 (Errannis and Lampetia being merely synonyms or 

 subgenera of Hybernia, and, by the way, the female 

 of H. aurantiaria not being quite apterous) ; and 

 would not those who do not collect moths be as 

 much enlightened by the scientific as by the 

 "English name"? In thus deprecating the use of 

 " English names," I do not for a moment wish to 

 suggest that our, common birds, flowers, &c, which 

 have well-known English names, should be called in 

 " gossip" or conversation by their scientific " appel- 

 lations." If, however, the " English names " of 

 Lepidoptera are used, care should be taken that 



