26 BKITISH BUTTERFLIES AND MOTHS 



Magpie Moth (Abraxas grossulariata). The parent 

 moth deposits her eggs in August on currant-bushes, 

 sloe-bushes, etc., etc.; the eggs arejsoon hatched, and 

 the little looping larvae begin feeding on the leaves of 

 currant, sloe, etc. They feed, however, slowly, and are 

 still quite small when they cease feeding for the winter, 

 and remain without eating till the young leaves begin 

 to expand in the spring of the following year. In April 

 and May, however, they feed voraciously and grow 

 rapidly. The full-grown Iarva3 are about an inch long, 

 rather stout, smooth, white, dotted with black. At the 

 end of May or beginning of June they spin a slight 

 amount of silk underneath a leaf, and fastening them r 

 selves in it, change to a pupa state. In about three 

 weeks' time the pupa-skin cracks, and the moth comes 

 out and proceeds to expand and dry its wings. It is a 

 sluggish, slow-flying insect, but is very conspicuous 

 from its large white wings, spotted with black, and may 

 be often noticed in gardens towards evening. 



Let us now consider the transformations of the Winter 

 Moth (Cheimatobia brumata). The parent moth de- 

 posits her eggs in the months of November and 

 December, frequently on hawthorn or apple ; in the early 

 spring as soon as the hedges begin to have a greenish 

 tinge, but before the leaf-buds are fully expanded, these 

 eggs hatch, and the small looping larvae begin feeding on 

 the young unexpanded leaves, eating a number of holes 

 in them. They are sometimes extremely injurious from 

 their numbers to apple-orchards and even to hawthorn 

 hedges. A few years ago I had about fifty yards of a 

 hawthorn hedge eaten perfectly bare by the larvre of 

 this insect, and the larvaa feeding on the young unex- 

 panded shoots cannot be expelled by shaking or beating. 



