136 TRANSFORMATIONS OF INSECTS. 



shine ; in fact, they resemble them very much, and their tints 

 are very vivid and pretty. The engraving shows one of the 

 species of the Zerenidce (the Large Magpie) in the moth state 

 and as a caterpillar. There are some moths closely allied to 

 them — but which have stouter bodies and a great dislike of 

 sunshine — whose caterpillars grow to a great size, and are very 

 geometric in their method of walking. PJialcena betularia has 

 a caterpillar which is of a green or brown colour, and is 

 covered with little wart-like growths. It goes into the earth, 

 makes an oval-shaped resting place, and is transformed into a 

 chrysalis during the month of September, The moth flies in the 

 month of May, or early in June in the following year, and some 

 specimens measure nearly two inches across the wings. It is 

 very remarkable that some of the female moths of this genus 

 should, like some of the Bombycina, have only rudimentary wings, 

 or organs of flight, that are not sufficiently strong to raise the 

 body in the air. Some of these geometric moths fly in the 

 winter time; and Hybernia rupicapraria, or the Early Moth, 

 may be caught on the ist of January, and the Dotted Border 

 may be seen on the hedges in February. The females of these 

 have pigmy wings, and so have those of the Spring Usher, 

 another of the same family. After March is passed no more 

 of these moths are seen until the end of autumn, but when 

 the leaves are falling fast, one of them, which is called the 

 Mottled Umber, may be seen on the trunks of trees ; they 

 have been found even as late as Christmas. The female of 

 this moth is a long-legged, spider-like insect, without any wings 

 at all. These are most interesting examples of retrograde meta- 

 morphosis, so far as the females are concerned. 



Another division of the Lepidoptera, which contains a great 

 number of species with very small individuals, is that of the 

 Pyralidina. These insects are as remarkable for the pecu- 

 liarities of their habits as for the diversity of their shapes. 

 Although usually very small, they are quite as w^ell ornamented 

 as the larger moths, and certainly their instincts, habits, and 

 metamorphoses are quite as interesting as those of the other 

 Lepidoptera. It is rather difficult to separate this division from 

 the Lepidoptera which have still to be noticed, and this part 



