22 BRITISH BUTTERFLIES AND MOTHS 



deposited in August ; these are hatched in a few weeks, 

 and the caterpillars commence feeding on grasses. 

 They feed sparingly at intervals throughout the winter, 

 but are still comparatively small in the spring; but 

 after the end of March they feed -more voraciously and 

 grow rapidly, so that by the middle of May or early in 

 June they are full fed. They are then two inches long, 

 of a dull bluish grey, with a line of orange spots on 

 each side of the back, and with short white tufts of hair 

 along the spiracles. The larva then spins an elongate 

 opaque cocoon, pointed at each end, and changes therein 

 to the pupa state. 



This larva, though not clothed with long hair, is yet 

 one of those of which the hairs are very apt to irritate 

 the skins of some individuals, producing a kind of 

 nettle-rash which is extremely unpleasant. The larvae 

 which are most objectionable in this respect are the 

 Oak Eggar (Lasiocampa quercux), the Fox (L. rubi), 

 and the Drinker (Odonestis potatoria) and the Gold 

 Tail (Porthesia auriflua) when about to moult, the 

 hairs being then rigid and brittle. At other times the 

 larva of the Gold Tail, which is remarkably handsome, 

 may generally be handled with impunity. But as these 

 hairy larvas aifect different persons in different ways, 

 each entomologist must ascertain for himself those 

 larvae he should avoid. The risk in tearing open the 

 cocoon of one of these larvae is considerably greater 

 than in handling the larva itself, from the rigid brittle 

 nature of the hairs, which are spun into the cocoon. 



Five or six weeks after the Drinker has assumed the 

 pupa state, the skin cracks, and the moth makes its 

 escape, and ascending some neighbouring object pro- 

 ceeds to expand and dry its wings. It flies swiftly at 



