18 BRITISH BUTTERFLIES AND MOTHS 



or beginning of October. Early in the spring follow- 

 ing, these eggs are hatched, and the caterpillars which 

 come from them proceed to eat the leaves of hawthorn 

 or sloe. The larvae grow quickly, and in a few weeks 

 have become very conspicuous objects, being of a pale 

 yellow, with a broad band on each side, which is either 

 of a slaty -blue or pale green ; they are very plump and 

 soft-looking. About the end of June they are full fed, 

 and then spin a rather firm, whitish cocoon, in which 

 they undergo their change to the pupa state. About 

 the middle or end of September, the perfect insect 

 bursts the pupa skin, pushes through the cocoon, and 

 comes forth to expand and dry its wings. It flies 

 swiftly at dusk, and is frequently attracted by light, 

 and enters cur rooms in warm evenings at the end of 

 September. 



Now let us turn our attention to the Buff-tip Moth 

 (Pygssiia bucephala). The parent moth deposits its 

 eggs about the middle of July. It deposits a con- 

 siderable number together, near the terminal leaves on 

 the branches of lime, oak, and various other trees. 

 The larvae soon emerge from these eggs, and proceed to 

 eat in company the terminal leaf, and then proceed to 

 the next leaf, gradually stripping the twig on which 

 they are at work. When the larvae are young, we 

 frequently find twenty or thirty employed on a single 

 leaf, so that it is not surprising that the leaf soon 

 disappears We can readily detect their presence as 

 we walk along, by their excrement, which we see lying 

 on the ground, and by the leafless ends of the 

 branches, which we see overhead against the sky. 

 Sometimes they occur in such plenty that the oak 

 bushes in the hedges are stripped perfectly bare in the 



