MAGPIE MOTH. 311 



The egg— one or more— is laid on the leaves during 

 summer, and the caterpillars appear towards August or 

 September, and feed for a while. Before winter they secure 

 themselves either by spinning themselves up in leaves, which 

 hang by spun threads from the boughs, or by dropping with 

 the leaves and sheltering themselves at the surface of the 

 ground. Next spring the caterpillars come out again and feed 

 on the new leafage, till towards May or the beginning of June 

 they spin a light cocoon, in which they turn to chrysalids, 

 from which the moth comes out towards the middle of the 

 summer. 



The caterpillar is one of the kind known as " loopers," from 

 the peculiar looped shape it assumes in walking (see fig., 

 p. 310); the head is black; body cream-coloured, with a 

 reddish orange stripe along the sides, and large irregular black 

 spots along the back ; the whole of the second ring, and the 

 under side of the third and fourth, and of the four nearest the 

 tail, are also reddish orange. The very gay colouring distin- 

 guishes it plainly from the greenish or green and black-spotted 

 caterpillar of the Gooseberry Sawfly, which is still more 

 common and destructive, and as the Magpie caterpillar has 

 only two pairs of sucker-feet (in addition to the three pairs of 

 claw feet near the head), being therefore obhged to raise itself 

 into an upright loop when walking is another distinction. 



When full fed it spins a light transparent cocoon attached 

 to twigs, or palings, or in crevices of walls ; and in this it 

 changes to a chrysalis, yellow at first, but afterwards shining 

 black, with orange-coloured rings, from which the moth comes 

 out about midsummer or rather later. 



Common form of Magpie Moth. 



The moth is very variable in its colouring, but when 

 regular in its marking is easily known. Commonly it has a 

 black head, yellow body between the wings, with a large black 

 spot in the middle ; the abdomen also yellow, with five rows 

 of black spots. The wings are white, spotted with black, and 

 the fore wings have a yellow blotch at the base and a yellow 

 band across them. There are, however, almost endless 

 varieties of markings, from black of different shades, to white; 



