LEPIDOPTERA. 



247 



solitary trees and those along wood borders only infested, for I have 

 found trees killed by the goat moth in the heart of dense woods. 



" Infested trees may easily be told by the holes 

 in the trunks, the dying limbs, the wood chips f ffiv^ 



thrown out of the holes, and the rough and 

 gnarled appearance of the trunks. Infested trees 

 are said to be easily recognised by the foul odour 

 they emit : this I have failed in every case to 

 notice, and some 150 trees that have been in- 

 fested, and have succumbed to the attack, have 

 been examined." 1 



The moth, fig. 229, is a very large insect, with 

 pectinated antennae in both sexes. Head reddish- 

 brown ; fore wings ashy-grey colour, mixed with 

 a dash of brown, and hind wings more of a 

 smoky-grey. The sexes are somewhat similar, 

 but the female is much the larger, being some- 

 times 3| inches across. The moths appear in 

 June and July, and at once deposit their eggs 

 in the crevices of the bark. 



The larva, fig. 230, is from 3 to 3J inches in 

 length, rather smooth and shining. Head small, 

 shining black, the body flesh-coloured, and the 

 legs yellow. They live for about three or four 

 years in the larval stage, and observers have re- 

 corded that it frequently has the habit of wan- 

 dering from its food-plant and pupating in the 

 soil. "When it does pupate in the stems of trees, 

 it makes a cocoon with chips and frass. 



The pupa, fig. 231, is very stout, slightly curved 

 with rings of sharp spines, and rather prominent 

 wing-cases. The colour is a dark red-brown. 



Collectors sometimes get the moth at " sugar." 



Fig. 230. Larva of Goat 

 Moth. (From 'The For- 

 ester,' by J. Nisbet.) 



Zeuzera iEScuLi (Linn.) (Leopard Moth). 



Fig. 231. Pupa of Goat 

 Moth. (From 'The For- 

 ester,' by J. Nisbet.) 



The larva of this moth is destructive to various 

 species of trees viz., poplar, horse-chestnut, ash, elm, sycamore, 

 birch, willow, hawthorn, and several species of fruit-trees. It may 

 1 The Animal Pests of Forest Trees. 



