310 



GOOSEBEBE"^. 



bear, it would be best to cut off and burn the infested 

 branches, or to destroy and burn the infested bushes if it could 

 be done without serious loss, and thus stamp out this newly- 

 observed pest in good time.* 



GOOSEBEPvEY. 



Magpie Moth; Currant Moth. 



Abrad'as (jyossulariata, Stcpheus. 



Magpie Moth, and larva. 



The caterpillars of the Magpie Moth sometimes do a great 

 deal of mischief, both in gardens, and in fruit-farms, by 

 stripping the Currant and Gooseberry leafage. 



The Magpie Moth is widely distributed, and the caterpillars 

 are injurious from KirkAvall, in the Orkneys, and Poltallock, in 

 Argyllshire, to the south of England, and, besides the leafage 

 of Black, Red, and White Currants, and also of Gooseberries, 

 which they habitually feed on, they are sometimes found on 

 that of Apricots and Plums, and especially frequent Sloe or 

 Blackthorn hedges. In 1885 the attack was very prevalent. 

 Mr. S. L. Mosley, Beaumont Park Museum, Huddersfield, 

 reported to me: — " The Magpie Moth has been more numerous 

 than for many years before. Here it has been abundant in 

 one or two places, and has entirely stripped the bushes. I 

 have also seen it commonly in Cambridgeshire, Lincolnshire, 

 Notts, and parts of Yorksliiie, and I have notes of its extreme 

 abundance near Bradford, Ilkley, Bickering, &c." 



* Full details of observation aie given in my 13th Report on Injurious 

 Injects, i)p. 43 — 49. 



