288 



FOREST ENTOMOLOGY. 



much larger leaves, and a brighter green bark, in younger stages, 

 than the former. 



If we examine the sheltered side of a laburnum - tree, or any 

 adjacent palings, about the latter end of April or the beginning of 

 May, we are sure to see a brilliant, little, white moth, with a few 

 yellowish markings towards the apices of the wings. This is the 

 imago of G. laburndla. It measures about 3i lines across the 

 expanded wings. The head and face are white, and the antenna? 

 fuscous. The anterior wings are white, with yellow spots or bars 

 across. The posterior wings are also white, with long cilia?. The 

 thorax is white, and the abdomen pale-grey. The legs are also white. 

 When carefully examined under the microscope, this tiny moth is a 



Fig. 274. Foliage of laburnum injured iiy larva o/Cemiostoma laburnella. 



very beautiful object, so much so, that it seems to vie with the 

 rich colours and brilliant markings of tropical insects. 



The larva is about 3 lines in length, of a pale greenish-white colour, 

 with sometimes a bright -green dorsal line, due, of course, to the 

 food taken from the green colouring under the leaf. 



The pupa is encased in a white cocoon, pointed at both ends. 



The life-history may be thus briefly described : The moths appear 

 during the latter end of April or beginning of May, and deposit their 

 eggs on the under surface of the leaf, generally near the midrib. 

 There are two broods in the year. In the first the larvae are full fed 

 about the early part of July. Then they leave their feeding-ground 

 on the upper surface of the leaves and pupate on the back of the 



