The Magpie, or Currant Moth. 



587 



if Providence had not provided a check to their progress. 

 One of the kinds of the ichneumon fly deposits her eggs 

 within the caterpillar of this Butterfly, and they are there 

 hatched. In their larva state they continue preying on 

 the vitals of the animal; they then pass to the pupa 

 condition, and eventually emerge as perfect insects. So 

 greatly are we indebted to this apparently contemp- 

 tible little parasite, for keeping down the increase of an 

 insect which would otherwise become a serious and 

 alarming evil. 



THE MAGPIE, OE CURRANT MOTH. 



(Geometra, or Abraxas grossulariataJ) 



THE Caterpillar of this Moth is one of the kind called 

 loopers, and is very destructive. The chrysalis is naked 

 and shining ; and its colour is a bright yellow with black 

 bands. The Moth is white, spotted with black, and hence 

 its name of Magpie. 



The black and white caterpillar of this Moth is very 

 destructive to currant and gooseberry bushes, and in 

 some seasons particularly so. Mr. Kirby especially 

 cites the devastations at Hull in the spring of 1814. He 

 also confirms Boerhaave's assertion, that the severity of 

 winter has no effect in destroying the larvee of those in- 

 sects, as these abounded even more after a winter when 

 Fahrenheit's thermometer stood at zero, than after a 

 winter which was remarkably mild. 



