SNAIL-FEET. 



21 



FAMILY V. THE COCHLIOPODnm 



38. The Triangle Moth (Limacodes Asellu*). \ 39. The Festoon Moth (Limacodes Testudo). 



THE FIFTH FAMILY of Moths is called Coch- 

 liopodidce, from two Greek words, signifying 

 " snail " and " foot," because the caterpillar 

 resembles a snail, crawling along the surface 

 of the leaf on which it feeds. The flat part 

 of a snail on which it crawls is called the 

 " foot :" the feet of these caterpillars are re- 

 tractile, so when one of them is turned on its 

 back, the legs appear to be withdrawn into 

 its stomach ; but when again placed in its 

 natural position, the feet are protruded, and 

 take firm hold of the leaf. The caterpillars 

 spin a silken cocoon among the oak trees, 

 and in this change to a chrysalis. 



Female. Male. 



38. The Triangle Moth (Limacodes Asellus). 



38. THE TRIANGLE MOTH. Fore wings of 

 the male dark brown, with two oval black 

 spots, scarcely perceptible in some specimens ; 

 hind wings almost black, unspotted ; fore 

 wings of the female yellow-brown, unspotted ; 

 hind wings dark brown, unspotted ; the fe- 

 male is considerably larger than the male. 

 The caterpillar is something like a wood-louse, 

 and sits close on the surface of the leaves of 

 the oak on which it feeds ; it is of a yellow- 

 green colour, with a yellow stripe down the 

 middle of the back, and has a number of 

 shining pimples of a pinkish hue : it feeds in 

 August and September, and spins up in 

 October ; it remains in the chrysalis state all 

 the winter and spring, and the Moth comes 

 out at Midsummer. It is only found in the 

 New Forest in Hampshire, where a collector 

 of the name of Turner has taken it in immense 

 quantities. (The scientific name is Limacodes 

 Asellus.) 



Male. Female. 



39. The Festoon Moth (Limacodes Testudo). 



39. THE FESTOON MOTH. Fore wings of 

 the male yellow-brown, with two narrow brown 

 stripes : the first is oblique, running from the 

 middle of the costal margin to near the base 

 of the inner margin ; the second is quite 

 straight, appearing to cut off the tip of the 

 wing : between these two, on the inner margin, 

 is a short oblique stripe of the same colour ; 

 hind wings dark brown, unspotted. Female 

 larger ; fore and hind wings both inclining to 

 clay-yellow. Antennae of both sexes yellow ; 

 head and thorax clay-yellow, body browner. 

 The caterpillar feeds on the oak from July to 

 September . its shape is something like that 

 of a wood-louse, but it still more resembles 

 those common little sea-shells which are called 

 Chitons : it is of a more dusky green colour, 

 with a broad stripe down the back of a paler 

 hue, and along each side of this is a row of 

 shining pimples, rather pink. In October it 

 spins on one of the oak-leaves a tough cocoon, 

 brown outside, but most delicately white and 

 silken inside ; in this the caterpillar remains 

 unchanged through the winter, but early in 

 spring it changes to a yellow-brown chrysalis, 

 which turns to a Moth in June ; the female 

 is very sluggish, sitting on the leaves of the 

 oak, and when shaken into a net it drops like 

 a little lump of yellow clay, and remains 

 quite motionless, feigning death. We have 

 repeatedly taken it in the woods of Kent, 

 but never saw it fly ; the male on the contrary 

 flies rapidly through the woods in hot sun- 

 shine, generally against the wind and always 

 in a zigzag direction. (The scientific name 

 is Limacodes Testudo.) 



