246 



FOREST ENTOMOLOGY. 



shire, and it is said to be most abundant near London. Fig. 228 rep- 

 resents the injuries done to an oak stem or plank. I am indebted to 



Mr E. G. Wheler, of Claverdon 

 Leys, Warwick, for this speci- 

 men. 



Mr F. V. Theobald says : 

 " The goat moth larvae are 

 the cause of the damage, for 

 they are not only large but rav- 

 enous creatures, which tunnel 

 right into the heart of the hard- 

 est wood, and in from six to 

 ten years a large tree is com- 

 pletely killed by them, the 

 whole trunk becoming a honey- 

 combed mass. As many as two 

 hundred have been found in a 

 single tree. If once a tree is 

 struck by this pest, it continues 

 for years (usually until it is 

 It is quite erroneous to say 



Fig. 228. Oak plank injured by larvce of Goat Moth. 



destroyed) to be a breeding - ground 



they only attack sickly trees : perfectly sound and healthy ash and 



Fig. 229. Cossus ligniperda (Goat Moth). (From 'The Forester,' by J. Nisbet.) 



elm have been observed to be attacked and eventually killed, and 

 then the larvas traced to the nearest tree that is unaffected. Nor are 



