128 THE LIFE OF AN INSECT. 



father-long-legs, which is sufficiently expressive of 

 one of the features of the insect in the perfect 

 state : perhaps the French tailors are distin- 

 guished for being very long and thin ! 



We may yet linger awhile in the fields for 

 another illustration of the devouring propensities 

 of vegetable-feeding larvae. The pretty moth re- 

 presented in the accompanying engraving, together 

 with its larva, was once the cause of more alarm 



The Gamma Moth and Larva. 



in France than we can readily conceive. It is 

 often to be seen in our meadows plunging its 

 minute drinking apparatus into the depths of the 

 wild flowers, and flitting to and fro at no great 

 height from the ground all the day long, and even 

 after sun-down. It is called generally the Gamma 

 moth, or Plusia gamma, in consequence of the 

 little mark in its wings, which resembles the 

 Greek letter 7. Its larva is striped with green, 



