84 THE VOUNG COLLECTORS 



happen to be in the neighbourhood. The Drinker Moth 

 (Odonestis Potatoria) is reddish-brown in the male, and yellowish 

 in the female, with some dark lines on the wings, and one or two 

 small white spots towards the costa, or front edge of the fore 

 wings ; it is generally considerably smaller than the Oak Eggar. 

 Its brown hairy larva, with reddish sides, and a tuft of black 

 hairs behind the head, and another near the tail, is common 

 everywhere on grass. The Lackey Moth (Clisiocampa Neustria) 

 is a much smaller insect, not measuring more than an inch and 

 a half across the wings, which are yellowish or reddish, with two 

 dark transverse stripes on the fore wings. The eggs are laid in a 

 close ring like a bracelet round the slender branch of a tree, and 

 the caterpillars are striped with black, blue, and reddish orange, 

 with a longitudinal white stripe on the back. They feed on 

 fruit-trees, etc., and spin themselves a common web, to which 

 they retire for the night ; but their large nests are so conspicuous 

 that they can easily be seen and destroyed. 



Xyleutes Cossus, the Goat Moth, the commonest species of 

 the small family Zetizerida, is a large, greyish-brown, heavy- 

 looking moth, with thick body, and broad wings, expanding 

 about three inches. Its great reddish caterpillar lives in long 

 galleries which it eats in the wood of willows and other trees, 

 and is three years in arriving at maturity. 



The Hepialidce, the last family of the Bombyces which we 

 shall notice, may be illustrated by the Ghost Moth (flepiahts 



Ghost Moth {Hepialus Httmuli), Female. 



ffumuli) y which has a peculiar hovering flight, and is common 

 in meadows on summer evenings. The male is white above and 

 brown below, and therefore keeps appearing and disappearing 

 in a manner from which it has probably derived its name. The 

 female is reddish-yellow, with red markings on the fore wings. 

 The yellowish-white larva feeds on the roots of grass. The 

 other species of Hepiahis are smaller insects, dark coloured, 



