246 



Marvels of Insect Life. 



the character of the cocoon mij^ht lead one to suppose that it was intended 

 to protect the chrysahs from the rigours of winter, instead of a few weeks 

 of July. It is probable that at one time the habits of the Insect were rather 

 different in this respect : that the eggs were laid early enough to enable the cater- 

 pillar to become full-fed during its first summer and to spend the winter as a chrysalis, 

 making an earlier emergence as a moth the next year. The probability of this being 

 so is suggested not only by the character of the cocoon, but by the fact that 

 occasionally an individual will follow this course, showing a probable reversion to 



former habits of the species. 



Having reared one of these Insects through its 



early stages, and been rewarded by the emergence of 



a female moth, we can if we will cause nearly all of the 



male oak-eggers of the district to assemble. All that 



is necessary is to take her in a gauze-covered cage to 



the edge of a heath or moor and attach the cage to a low 



■b' ^J^ twig. About three o'clock in the afternoon is the best 



WM fmSt i^me for this species — with some others dusk is a better 



\_ AHE time. Before you have waited long a number of males 



will arrive and swarm around the cage, trying hard to 

 obtain admission. 



Our coloured plate illustrates this " sembling " 

 habit, as it is called. It is an incident noticed at Bude 

 by our artist. A small hole in a sandbank was surrounded 

 by several male eggers, and others were flying from all 

 directions, regardless of a strong wind. They made 

 frantic but futile efforts to get into the hole, but it was 



ji^^ %^ much too small to admit them Suspecting what might 



^HM^p^ be the cause of the excitement, Mr. Carreras carefully 



^^^^^■[^ cut away the sand, and at a depth of a few inches he 



HHIHHHHi came upon a female with wings crumpled and most of 



the scales rubbed off. Apparently a caterpillar had 

 crawled into the hole to spin up, without realizing that 

 as a moth it would be unable to pass out again. Although 

 entirely hidden from sight, all the male eggers of the dis- 

 trict appeared to have received intimation of her presence. 

 A much smaller moth, but one better known 

 from the frecpient abundance of its j^retty caterpillars, 

 is the lackey.^ The female measures only an inch and a half across the expanded 

 wings, and the male is a quarter of an inch smaller. They are both 

 coloured entirely in brown, varying from pale yellow-brown to dark reddish-brown, 

 and have a broad band of deeper tint across the fore-wings They fly in July and 

 August, like the oak-egger, but as these are not on the wing until night the moths 

 are seldom seen, except when they fly into the house attracted by the lights. They 

 lay their eggs in close rings around twigs, where they remain until spring. The 

 caterpillar is too frequently a serious pest on fruit trees, on hawthorn hedges, and 



1 Malacosoma neustria. 



4il^ 



Photo by] [E. Step, F.L.S. 



Oak-Egger Caterpillar. 

 The egger-moths are so called owing 

 to the caterpillars constructing egg- 

 shaped cocoons of large size, firmly 

 woven, and often coated with a chalky 

 substance, which increases the resem 

 blance. The caterpillar shown is about 

 two and a half inches long ; in general 

 colour dark brown, and covered with 

 tufts of long hairs. Along the sides 

 runs a white line and a series of red 

 spots. 



