"small ok " gaeden swift moth. 9 



its earliest growth, to counteract tins as far as possible by 

 plentiful manuring, and such cultivation of the land as will 

 put good supplies of food in reach of the young rootlets 

 directly they are able to absorb it. 



"Small" or "Garden " Swift Moth. Hepialus lupulinus, Linn. 



Heinalus lupulinus :* moth, caterpillar, and chrysalis. 



The caterpillars of the Garden Swift Moth are recorded as 

 living on the roots of a large variety of plants, amongst 

 garden crops, on Parsnip, Lettuce, Potato, Celery, and Straw- 

 berry plants, also on grass-roots ; and, with regard to their 

 powers, it is mentioned, " their destructive habits are scarcely 

 to be equalled by the ' Surface-grubs.' " They are to be found 

 in autumn and winter, as well as spring, and are stated to 

 turn to chrysalids in May, from which the moths come out in 

 about a month. 



So far as my own observations go, I have only once received 

 communication of a really serious attack attributable to this 

 caterpillar ; but as there appears to be reason to think that a 

 good deal of mischief, of which the precise authorship has 

 not been traced, may be owing to these caterpillars working 

 on various kinds of plants just below the surface in the 

 spring time, I append the full description ; as given by John 

 Curtis in his paper on this subject in the * Gardeners' 

 Chronicle ' : — 



" The caterpillars are cylindrical, yellowish white, the 

 head is brown and horny, with two minute antennte ; the 1st 

 thoracic segment is horny and pale brown ; the following 

 segments have four dark dots on the back of each, producing 

 bristles, with a greyish intestinal line between them often 

 blackish at the tail ; there is a similar line of dots and hairs 

 down each side, and beneath them the black spiracles, which 

 are bristly. They have six pectoral, eight abdominal, and 



* The worst attack of the above caterpillar that I have report of was to Bean 

 crop; therefore I have placed it under this heading. — E. A. 0. 



