1899] " SPINACH MOTH." 47 



small, of the colour of the body. Claw feet clear yellow brown; 

 sucker feet and caudal feet yellow, the latter with rather strong hori- 

 zontal prolongations." 



The short account of appearance and method of feeding of the 

 caterpillar, quoted from the description of Mr. Wormald by Edw. 

 Newman,* is as follows: — "It rests on the posterior claspers, with the 

 head and the legs contracted ; it is smooth, without lumps or warts, 

 long, slender, and attenuated towards the head ; the colour is pale 

 yellowish green, with the dorsal line darker, and the subdorsal lines 

 pale yellow and indistinct. It feeds at night on the Black Currant 

 {Piibes nigrum). Its habit is very sluggish, remaining for several days 

 on one twig, and feeding on all the leaves within its reach before 

 changing its position. The eggs were laid on the 3rd of August, and 

 hatched in the second week of April, and the caterpillar was full-fed 

 at the beginning of June, when it spun a slight cocoon on the surface 

 of the ground." 



It is also mentioned (at p. 193, referred to in note), '• Mr. Double- 

 day informs me that at Epping this caterpillar always feeds on the 

 Eed Currant." 



On applying to Mr. Orlebar for any further notes of observation of 

 the attack which he might be good enough to favour me with, he 

 kindly added the following somewhat important remarks : — 



"I did not notice the attack as becoming serious until about 

 June 1st, and the caterpillar was fully fed about the 10th. I notice 

 that Edw. Newman does not give his own account of the caterpillar, 

 but quotes Mr. Wormald, who says that it feeds on the Black Currant ; 

 but it has not done so here, the Eed Currant only being attacked. He 

 also says it is a night feeder. This I did not notice, but I should 

 think it probable, as its position by day was usually upon the stalk of 

 the leaf, where it was resting with its body slightly arched. It hung 

 by a thread when disturbed. . . . He " (Mr. Wormald), "however, 

 states that ' it spun a slight cocoon on the surface of the ground,' 

 which is contrary to what I observed here, where it invariably made 

 a very slight though very strong web, not less than three feet from the 

 ground, on the stem of the bush itself, and generally at the junction of 

 the young wood and the old. This difference seems to me of some 

 importance, as of course different methods of destroying the chrysalis 

 wovild be necessary if the pest became at all general. The moth 

 appeared on the wing about the end of June." — (R. 0.) 



The slight differences in description of the appearance of the 

 caterpillar — as, for instance, the English observation of it as " smooth, 

 without warts or lumps," and the German as "warts, very small, of 

 the colour of the body " — do not seem to me very important, as higher 



• See ' British Moths,' p. 193. 



