GEOMETERS. 



145 



unites with a little beetle called the " apple 

 weevil," which I have described elsewhere, 

 in causii g this singular appearance ; the egg 

 is laid on the flower-bud, and the young 

 caterpillar emerging at the time that the 

 flowers begin to prepare for expansion, enters 

 the little chamber formed by the still united 

 petals, and feeds in the interior of this choice 

 domicile ; begins by eating the still imper- 

 fect stamens, then devours the pistils, and, 

 lastly, the fruit itself, hollowing it out and 

 leaving only the rind, which forms a kind of 

 cup ; but before it has proceeded thus far, it 

 has spun together the petals, and has fastened 

 them to the calyx by threads so minute as to 

 escape observation, although their presence is 

 sufficiently obvious from the manner in which 

 the petals, calyx, and what remains of the 

 fruit, still adhere together. No sooner has 

 the caterpillar attained its full size, than it 

 spins a little cocoon within its dwelling-place, 

 and therein changes to a chrysalis, and the 

 purpose at first required by the continued ad- 

 hesion of the fruit being fulfilled, it now falls 

 to the ground, and in due time the moth 

 emerges. Now the question arises, and it has 

 been well put by M. Guene"e, " Does this 

 insect thus feeding on the future fruit, cause 

 any real or important diminution of the 

 crop ] " I certainly think not. Nature pro- 

 duces flowers in such lavish abundance, that 

 the trees would scarcely bear a tithe of the 

 fruit if it all came to maturity ; and every one 

 must have observed, that when the green pug 

 and apple weevil are altogether absent, the 

 little pears will frequently fall to the ground 

 by thousands and hundreds of thousands, 

 simply because the tree cannot supply them 

 with nutriment sufficient to bring them to per- 

 fection. But this subject has to be looked at 

 from another point of view; nature, or rather 

 a beneficent Providence, has provided for 

 the preservation and continuance of every 

 created being, and has appointed certain 

 natural police to prevent each species from 

 encroaching on the rights of its neighbours. 

 The titmice and other small birds are the police 

 appointed in the case of this little caterpillar ; 

 Providence wills that the little birds should 



check its too great increase ; but our French 

 neighbours have willed the destruction of 

 these little birds; they suppose that they 

 know best, and have slain, as far as they can, f 

 every feathered inhabitant of field or forest, 

 garden or orchard. They are now profiting by 

 experience, and are talking of laws which 

 shall protect birds, because the birds protect 

 the apples and pears; they begin to perceive 

 that by destroying the one, they destroy the 

 other also. 



The MOTH appears on the wing in June, and 

 is very common in England, Scotland, and 

 Ireland. (The scientific name is Eupithecia 

 rectangulata.) 



Obi. The moth is excessively variable, 

 some being almost black in tint, others ap- 

 proaching to ochreous ; I have described the 

 more usual colour. 



302. THE BILBERRY Puo. The fore wings 

 are gray, with a very slight, almost impercep- 

 tible tinge of green ; they have a distinct, but 

 inconspicuous discoidal spot, almost round, and 

 numerous transverse smoky gray markings ; 

 the basal portion of the wing is pale ; then 

 follows a broad band of a rather darker colour, 

 which includes the discoidal spot ; and then a 

 pale waved bar, separated from the broad band 

 by a series of black dots; near the hind 

 margin is a pale zigzag line : the hind wings 

 are pale, with darker transverse markings, 

 similar to those on the fore wings. This 

 species, to my perception, always conveys 

 the idea of having possessed brighter and 

 more distinct colours, which have faded or 

 been washed out. 



Mr. Crewe describes the CATERPILLAR as 

 under : " Rather short and stout, the ground 

 colour dull yellowish green ; the whole body 

 is rather transparent, and more or less suffused 

 with yellow ; the central dorsal line is rather 

 darker than the rest of the body ; the iub- 

 dorsal lines are wanting ; the spiracular lines 

 are dull yellow ; the head, dusky brown or 

 blackish ; the belly is destitute of markings. 

 It feeds on the leaves of the whortleberry 

 ( Vacdnium myrtillus), and is full-fed the be- 

 ginning of May, when it spins a slight earthen 

 cocoon." It has been observed by Dr. Breyer, 



M 10 



