METAMORPHOSES OP BUTTERFLIES AND MOTHS 29 



Let us now consider the transformations of one of the 

 Plume Moths (Pterophorus fuscus). The egg is de- 

 posited by the parent moth in July on plants of Vero- 

 nica Chamsedrys. The eggs are probably hatched in a 

 few weeks, and the larvae probably after feeding for a 

 short time, lay up for the winter. On this point my 

 information is deficient, and I have therefore to supply 

 it by conjecture. In the month of May of the follow- 

 ing year the larvae feed eagerly and grow rapidly, and 

 by the end of the month the hairy, stout, sixteen-legged 

 larvae are full fed ; then they fasten the hind legs to a 

 stem of the plant, and undergo the change to the pupa 

 state. The pupa is smooth, attached only by the tail 

 to the stem of the plant. In two or three weeks' time 

 the pupa-skin cracks, and the moth comes out, and 

 very soon expands and dries its wings. It may often 

 be seen flying in the afternoon and evening on grassy 

 banks, where its food plant, the Veronica Chamsedrys, 

 is plentiful. 



In conclusion of this chapter we will just glance at 

 the transformations of the Twenty-plume Moth (Alucita 

 polydactyla). The parent moth deposits her eggs at the 

 end of May on the undeveloped flower-buds of the 

 honeysuckle. When these eggs hatch, the larvae creep 

 into the honeysuckle buds and feed within the un- 

 opened buds on the stamens and pistil. The larva is 

 quite smooth, furnished with sixteen legs, and when full 

 fed it spins a slight silken cocoon in which it changes 

 to the pupa state. In a few weeks' time the motli 

 emerges from the cocoon and speedily expands and 

 dries its wings, and it may often be seen fluttering 

 about honeysuckles, and not rarely it enters houses, and 

 we see it on our windows. 



