NOVEMBER. 



their box kept clean. After a few weeks the insects 

 cease to feed, and, climbing into the corners of their 

 box, will in the course of a day or two spin a slight 

 web of silk arid hair within which the pupa will be 

 partially hidden. In this state it will remain apparently 

 dormant for from four to six weeks, when from each 

 case there will emerge a fine moth. This insect is one 

 of the commonest of our moths, and is usually mistaken 

 for a butterfly. Its wings are black with two or three 

 white spots on each, while the body is black crossed 

 with bright yellow stripes, making a very conspicuous 

 combination of colour. The slow fluttering flight and the 

 complete want of concealment of this moth show that 

 the perfect insect, like the larva, must be distasteful to 

 birds. The moths are common throughout the summer 

 and autumn, and are to be met with even into winter 

 if the season is mild, and two generations seem to be 

 reared during each season. They visit many kinds of 

 open flowers, and slowly dip their long trunks into the 

 nectaries to suck up the sweet fluid contained in them. 

 The technical name of Nyctemera annulata so called 

 from the golden-yellow rings which encircle the body 

 is given to this pretty insect. 



Of late years there has been a very remarkable in 

 crease in the abundance of these insects, especially in 

 the southern end of this island, and this is apparently 

 due to the great abundance of rag-wort (Senecio Jacobea), 

 which has become such a serious pest in the south. 

 Armies of the caterpillar are sometimes met with during 

 the month of November, followed later by myriads of 

 moths. 



TIL 



In most of the damp and untrodden parts of the bush 

 there may be found at the present time numerous examples 

 of a little orchid of very singular appearance. On a spray- 

 sprinkled stone at the side of the bed of one of ovir mountain 

 streams, or on the sloping moss-covered bank, may be 

 seen delicate heart-shaped or kidney-shaped leaves an inch 



