BUTTERFLIES AND MOTHS 335 



formerly common in the fens of Cambridgeshire. (The male is grayish- 

 brown, the female grayish-white ; the fore-wings are marked with dark 

 toothed transverse bands.) After depositing the eggs, and while they 

 are still glutinous, the female rubs them over with the end of its 

 abdomen, so that some of the hairs of the latter adhere to them, and 

 to this the spongy appearance is due. The hairy feltwork not only 

 protects the eggs from birds, but also against rain, all of the hairs 

 being directed downwards, so that the water runs down from the egg- 

 cluster as from a roof. 



Similar egg-clusters are produced by the Brown-Tail Moth (Por- 

 thesia chrysorrhea). This is a small white moth, with a thick tuft of 

 golden yellow or brown hairs at the extremity of the abdomen (name). 

 The caterpillars, which often do great damage to fruit-trees, emerge 

 from the eggs in autumn. To protect themselves against the winter 

 cold, these delicate creatures fasten some leaves together by their webs, 

 and so form a nest, in which they are proof against cold or storm, rain 

 or snow. Further, to prevent this winter dwelling from falling with 

 the leaves in autumn down to the ground, where they would perish, the 

 caterpillars fasten the stalks of the leaves, among which they are lodged, 

 firmly to the branch. 



The caterpillar of the Lackey (Gastropacha neustria), with its many 

 stripes of diverse colours, is another highly unwelcome visitor on our 

 fruit-trees. The moth is obscurely brown-coloured, and lays its eggs, 

 which resemble the colour of the bark, firmly cemented in a ring around 

 thin branches. 



The larvae of a small brown moth, the so-called Processional Moth 

 (Cncthocampa) t which live on oaks and pines, may prove very dangerous 

 even to man. They are common in many parts of Europe, but are not 

 found in the British Isles. The fine hairs covering their bodies are 

 provided with barbs, easily break off, and permeate the air of the district 

 attacked by these insects ; they are very apt to penetrate the skin, 

 producing violent inflammation, especially of the mucous membrane 

 (mouth, lung, and conjunctival membrane of the eye). The caterpillars 

 live in nests, and go in search of food in well-ordered processions (name). 

 The most important enemies of the injurious insects mentioned above 

 are the cuckoo, a predaceous ground-beetle (Calosoma sycophanto), and 

 bats, in addition to several singing-birds. (Describe the larvae and 

 moths of the species mentioned more fully, and try to rear them.) 



