METAMORPHOSES OF BUTTERFLIES AND MOTHS 27 



When they attack apple-orchards in numbers the entire 

 crop may be lost. About the end of May these small 

 green looping larvae are full fed, and then descend below 

 the surface of the earth, where they undergo their 

 change to the pupa state. About the middle of November 

 the pupa comes to the surface, and the skin cracking, 

 the moth escapes, and crawling up the hedge or tree- 

 stem, proceeds to expand and dry its wings. It is, 

 however, only the male which has developed wings ; the 

 female has the wings no larger than when it first 

 emerges from the pupa, and is therefore incapable of 

 flight. On a mild November evening the males may 

 be seen flying along the leafless hedges by hundreds, 

 and if we examine the hedges with a lantern we shall 

 see the subapterous females sitting on the twigs. 



Now let us consider the transformations of the Small 

 Magpie Moth (Botys urticata). The parent moth de- 

 posits her eggs, in July, on stinging-nettles. The eggs 

 are soon hatched, and the glassy-looking larvae, fur- 

 nished with sixteen legs, proceed to feed on the leaves 

 of the stinging nettle, which they wrap partially round 

 them. In a few weeks the larvae are full fed, and in 

 the course of the month of September they go into 

 winter quarters. They seek the crevices under the 

 loose bark of trees, or creep into hollow stems, and 

 there spin a slight transparent cocoon, in which the 

 larva remains unchanged till the following spring ; but 

 towards the end of April it changes to the pupa state, 

 and about six weeks afterwards the pupa-skin cracks, 

 and the moth creeps out and proceeds to expand and 

 dry its wings. The moth may often be seen flying 

 along weedy banks, or hovering amongst stinging- 

 nettles. 



