39 



Description and Life-History of Winter Moths. 



WINTER MOTH (Clieinmtobia brumata). The Moths. The 

 male of the Winter Moth measures 1-l-fc inches in spread of 

 i'orewings, which in colour are grey-brown with numerous 

 darker wavy lines, the hindwirigs being grey without- markings. 

 From the middle of October to the end of December it emerges 

 from its chrysalis in the soil and may frequently be seen flitting 

 about orchards and hedges at dusk, later in the evening coming 

 to street lamps and other artificial lights. The female Winter 

 Moil; is very different in appearance from the male, having 

 finy shrivelled- up looking wings, so small that flight is not 

 possible. The body is large, the legs appearing long, thus 

 giving the insect a superficial resemblance to a spider, quite 

 unlike the popular conception of a moth. From the second 

 week in October onwards to December these female Winter 

 Moths emerge from chrysalides buried in the ground at the 

 Uist- of a tree (the result of infestation the previous spring), 

 crawl up the trunk to the small terminal shoots, and deposit 

 eggs upon them. 



77? f Eyg. The eggs are small, cylindrical, at first light 

 green in colour, but later becoming reddish, and are placed 

 singly or in small groups at the base of buds and on pruned 

 surfaces. From 100 to 200 are laid by one female. 



77f.<> Caterpillar. From the eggs laid by the moth in winter 

 the devastating caterpillars hatch in early spring, usually 

 about the middle oj March just before the bursting of the 

 buds. When first hatched they are grey with black heads 

 and are extremely small. As they grow and change their 

 skins they become green with white stripes and greenish 

 heads. As already mentioned they progress by " looping/' 

 having, like all members of the group to which they belong, 

 six true legs in front and but two pairs of claspers behind, 

 instead of the five pairs possessed by caterpillars of most other 

 groups of moths and butterflies. 



They eat bud. leaf, blossom and young fruit, spinning leaves 

 and blossom heads together and living under the protective 

 covering thus formed. In May and June they become fully 

 fed. let themselves down to the ground by silken threads and 

 form chrysalides in the soil. Moths emerge from these chry- 

 salides in the following autumn and winter to begin the cycle 

 again. 



THE MARCH MOTH AND THK MOTTLED UMBER. For all prac- 

 tical purposes the life histories of these species resemble suffi- 

 ciently that of the Winter Moth to render separate treatment 

 unnecessary. 



The March Moth- appears in the month bearing its name or 

 sometimes earlier. The male measures about 1| inches in 

 spread of the rather narrowish fore wings, which are grey-brown 



