214 COMMON BRITISH MOTHS 



Family — Zyg.exid.e 



The remaining family of the Sphinges — the Zi/r/trnida' — inchiJes 

 seven British species, three of which are known popularly as the 

 Foresters and the others as the Burnets. 



Their antennae are thickest beyond the middle, but do not 

 terminate in a hook. Their wings are narrow and completely 

 covered with scales. 



These moths are very sluggish ci'eatures, spending the greater 

 pai't of their time at rest on the stems of low-growing plants. When 

 they do fly, their flight is short and heavy, and their pretty wings 

 glisten in the sunshine (for they are lovers of the sun), giving them 

 the appearance of bees rather than of moths. On account of this 

 natm'al sluggishness, they are exceedingly local, for they never 

 move far from the spots where their food plants abound, and where 

 thej' had previously spent the earlier stages of their existence. 

 Thus we often come across a very limited piece of ground actually 

 alive with them, and outside which not a single specimen is to 

 l)e seen. 



The larvae, too, are sluggish creatures, with soft and phmip 

 cylindrical bodies and no horns. I will briefly describe three 

 members of this family. 



TJie Forester (Iiio Statices) 



The fore wings of tliis species are serai-transparent, and of a 

 beautiful glossy green. The hind wings also are semi-transparent, 

 but of a dull smoky tint. The thorax and abdomen are both of a 

 brilliant metallic green colour. The tips of the 

 antennae are blunt, and the male may be distin- 

 guished from his mate by these organs being 

 slightly fringed or ciliated. 



The caterpillar is dingy grey or greenish, 



jPj,, 2Q- rp^j^, with a row of black spots down the back, and 



Forester. a whitish stripe on each side. It feeds on the 



common sorrel (Rumex acctosa) and the sheep 

 sorrel (R. acctoseUa), and when fully grown it spins a cocoon on 

 the stem of its food plant, and there changes to a chrysalis. 



The larva may be found during May and early June. The 

 chrysalis state lasts only a few days, and the moth is on the wing 

 during June and July. 



