76 WINTER MOTH. 



of the year, occasionally settling, and, if startled, 

 slipping through the hedge so quietly that it 

 often escapes capture, though it is decidedly slow 

 of wing. 



This Moth is one of our most destructive 

 insects, the caterpillar being particularly fond of 

 fruit trees ; and in some districts, especially those 

 in which apples, plums, and cherries are much 

 cultivated, the young larvae cut their way into the 

 buds, and destroy in this manner a great propor- 

 tion, and sometimes the whole, of the crop. 



When they are too large to be hidden in the 

 buds, they attack the young leaves, spinning 

 threads round two or three of them in such a 

 manner that the caterpillar may be concealed 

 in them. The sUken thread is also used by 

 them as a means of safety ; for, if the branches 

 be beaten or shaken, the caterpillars allow them- 

 selves to drop, suspending themselves by their 

 threads, and, when the danger is over, climb up 

 again to resume their ravages. 



The same threads are employed by them wheu 

 they are full fed and about to undergo the change 

 into the pupa. They let themselves down to 

 the ground, burrow into the soil, undergo their 

 transformation, and then ascend into the outer 

 air in the perfect state. 



