THE TIGER AND VAPOURER MOTHS. 311 



common Tiger Motli [Arctia Caja), one of the most 

 abundant species of the tribe^ which has received the 

 name of the Woolly Bear, from its excessively shaggy 

 appearance. This caterpillar, which is of a black 

 colour, may often be seen upon the plants of hedge- 

 banks, and when touched it coils itself up into a ring. 

 The moth appears in July, and is one of our hand- 

 somest species. It measures from two inches and a 

 half to three inches across the wings, the first pair of 

 which are of a rich brown colour, variegated with 

 broad white streaks, and the second pair bright red, 

 with three large black spots near the hinder margin, 

 and tliree smaller ones towards the base. The thorax 

 is brown, the abdomen red, with black bands, the thighs 

 bright red, the tibiae and tarsi blackish, and the an- 

 tennae white, with the tips blackish. The moths called 

 Eggers (Lasiocampa), from their cocoons being of a 

 firm texture and oval form, are also covered with 

 hairs, and these, from their structure, are liable to 

 work their way into the skin, where they produce an 

 intolerable itching. 



Besides these hairy caterpillars, there are some which 

 have the greater part of the body nearly naked, but 

 which are adorned with singular tufts of hairs upon 

 different parts of their surface. One of these may be 

 found commonly upon fruit-trees in gardens ; it is 

 about an inch long, of a blackish colour with red 

 spots, with four dense yellowish-white bunches of hair 

 upon the back, and some cm-ious tufts of feathered 

 black hairs upon other parts of the body. This is the 

 caterpillar of the Orgyia antiqua, the male of which 

 is a small chestnut-brown moth, with a single white 

 spot near the hinder angle of the anterior wings ; he 

 may be seen in the latter part of the summer flying 



