232 COMMON BRITISH MOTHS 



The larva feeds on a large number of plants and trees, among 

 which may be mentioned the willow (Salix alba), blackthorn (Pru- 

 nus spinosa), elder (Sambucus nigra), whitethorn (Cratcegus oxy- 

 acantha), bramble (Rubus fruticosus), heaths (Erica tetralix and 

 E. cinerea), and the meadow-sweet (Spircea ulmaria}. Its colour 

 is a lovely green ; and each segment has several pink tubercles, each 

 surrounded by a black ring, and giving rise to a tuft of short black 

 hairs. The spiracles are orange. 



In the autumn it spins a pear-shaped cocoon of silk, open at the 

 small end (fig. 28). 



It may here be mentioned in passing that, in the case of some 

 of the larger moths of the few preceding families, the young ento- 

 mologist is likely to meet with larvae more frequently than the per- 

 fect insect. These moths, however, are mostly very hardy and 

 easily reared ; and a beginner cannot do better than endeavour to 

 obtain either ova or larvae, in order that he may be able to watch 

 the different species through their various stages. 



Family DREPANULIDJE 



We now reach a family containing six small moths that differ 

 in many important particulars from those we have just been con- 

 sidering. They are of such slender build that a beginner may 

 easily mistake them for Geometers. Their wings, though small, 

 are broad, and well proportioned to their bodies. In five cases out 

 of the six the front wings are more or less hooked at the tips, and 

 on this account the moths in question are called the Hook Tips. 



The larvae are not hairy, but they all have little fleshy projections 

 on their backs. Their bodies also taper to a point behind, and the 

 last pair of claspers are wanting, so that they have only fourteen 

 walking appendages. When at rest they usually fix themselves by 

 their claspers only, their pointed ' tails ' being directed slightly up- 

 ward, and all the front segments being also elevated. When about 

 to change, they descend to the ground, and spin their cocoons among 

 dead leaves. 



Two only of this family can receive an individual notice. 



The Oak Hook Tip (Drepana binaria) 



This can hardly be described as a very common moth, but it is 

 fairly plentiful in the woods of the southern counties of England. 



