MAGPIE MOTH. 31 
claw-feet beneath the body, consequently, as they have to move these 
sucker-feet close up to the others in order to steady themselves in 
progression, they form an upright ‘‘loop’’ in walking, and by this 
habit, and by their yellowish colouring, blotched with black, they are 
easily distinguishable from the almost more destructive caterpillars of 
the Currant and Gooseberry Sawfly, often occurring in company with 
them. These have a dull pale or bluish green ground colour, with 
first and second segments partly orange, and those near the tail also 
orange, and the body sprinkled with black tubercles, each bearing one 
or more hairs, until the last moult, when the black tubercles are cast 
off. The above differences in colour, and the circumstance of the 
larva having six pairs of sucker-feet beneath the body, instead of only 
one pair (as with the larva of the Magpie Moth), are very easy methods 
for distinguishing these two infestations. 
The Magpie Moth is variable in 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 ; 
some have the upper half of the wing white and the lower black, or 
the reverse; some have the ground colour of the wing (instead of 
merely a band) yellow; and in some cases the hinder wings are striped 
with black. It is noteworthy, however, that, as recorded by Mr. 
Robson, the black variety of larvee observed by him near Newcastle-on- 
Tyne only produced the common form, not the especially black marked 
varieties of the moth. (See reference to black larve, p. 80.) 
PREVENTION AND Remepies.—-The habit of the caterpillar of winter- 
ing in spun-together leaves still hanging on the bushes, or sometimes 
lying amongst any shelter on the ground beneath, is the special habit 
to be acted on to get rid of it thoroughly. At pruning time the bushes 
should be very carefully gone over, and also examined afterwards to 
be sure that there are no leaves which may hold a caterpillar in the 
spun-together fold left on the bushes. Also, where the bushes have 
several stems so placed that infested leaves or insect vermin might 
lodge, it is particularly desirable that such lurking-places should be 
cleared out, or some trustworthy insecticide poured in. Where Currant 
bushes are trained on walls, search is especially requisite. It should 
also be borne in mind that the longer the pruning can be deferred, the 
more sure it is, to be a good remedy. If the caterpillars have either 
not become thoroughly torpid, or the weather is sufficiently open for 
them to re-establish themselves, many will escape by creeping away, 
