Phillips. — On Moth-destruction. 631 



from the diamond-back moth (Plutella cruciferarum) ; but as 

 the larvae of these moths only attack the leaves, and my swedes 

 were bored through and through the bulb, the damage must 

 have been done by the caterpillar of the common dart moth, 

 Noctua [Agrotis) segetum, or of the heart-and-dart moth, 

 Noctua (Agrotis) exclamatlonis, or, rather, of moths similar 

 to these, as Mr. Hudson tells me that the exact English species 

 of these moths are not in New Zealand. 



Swarms of little white moths rise about February from our 

 hedges, trees, and even tussocks in a day's ride across the 

 plains. But this is a day moth, and may have to be trapped 

 in the day-time like a butterfly. In September and October 

 our rooms at night are inundated with Porina cervinata, or 

 some such moth of the Hepialidse family, the larvae of which 

 feed on the roots of grass. Every settler knows how much 

 grass he annually loses from what he calls the wire- worm. I 

 have seen patches of grass many acres in area entirely de- 

 stroyed for a season by this or a similar caterpillar. 



Then, there is the caterpillar from the moth (Plutdla 

 cruciferarum, I suppose) which bores through the leaves of 

 nearly ail our garden vegetables ; also cankerworm moths, 

 which destroy our fruit ; also the dreaded codlin-moth, for 

 which some friends of mine have tried growing a moth-catch- 

 ing plant, the flowers of which certainly entrap a number 

 of moths very nicely, but its eventual utility I should much 

 doubt. Nevertheless, the catching of twenty or thirty 

 moths each day or night may be very beneficial in reducing 

 the codlin-moth in our orchards not much troubled with the 

 pest as yet. And even this slight reduction may prevent the 

 pest froni spreading to clean orchards. 



For the diamond -back moth, Mr. Bidwill, of Pihautea, 

 Wairarapa, many years ago tried large bonfires at night ; and, 

 for the large moths, he destroyed a number by placing a look- 

 ing-glass at the back of a lighted candle in an o pen wi w. 

 The moth dashed against the glass and fell disabled. 



For codlin-moth, I have read in an agricultural paper of a 

 plan of hanging a lamp in the apple-trees with wings of tin 

 covered with some sticky material. The moths would fasten 

 themselves upon the wings like flies upon treacled paper. 

 I have also read of the manner in which the electric arc 

 lights in New York and London attract the different kinds of 

 moths. Eventually the sparrows have found this out. They 

 are observed chattering around the globes at daybreak, wait- 

 ing until they cool, and then these little scavengers slide down 

 into the globe by way of the carbons and get a good break- 

 fast; as many as half a dozen birds clambering into one globe. 

 Entomologists have consequently to be up very early to 

 secure good specimens. The attraction of the arc light is only 



