296 COMMON BRITISH MOTHS 



sheltered spots, flying at dusk. It appears in August, remains on 

 the wing till October, and then hybernates till the following April. 

 During the winter it is commonly met with 

 in outhouses and even in dwelling houses. 



The caterpillar feeds during June and July 

 on the flower buds of the honeysuckle (Loni- 

 cera Periclymenum). It is not hairy, like 



most of the larvae of the last family ; and, 



FIG. 218. HEXA- , ,. . 



PACT YLA ENLARGED, unlike these, it changes to a chrysalis in a 

 silken cocoon. 



Crambi 



The third group of the ' Micros ' is the Crambi, and contains 

 about eighty species, arranged in four families. 



Some of them are common moths with which all must be more 

 or less familiar, as they are roused from the grasses on which they 

 repose at almost every footstep as we walk through meadows in the 

 summer. When at rest, they present a very peculiar appearance. 

 Their wings are wrapped closely round their bodies in such a man- 

 ner that they are hardly distinguishable from the stems on which 

 they repose. 



The larvae have sixteen limbs, and are very variable in their 

 habits. Some feed among moss or dry stems in silken tubes, some 

 on the stems of reeds, and others inhabit the hives of bees and feed 

 on the wax of the honeycomb. 



The four families are : 



1. Chilidce five species. 



2. Crambidce about thirty species. 



3. Phycid<eo\eY forty species. 



4. Galleridce five species. 



Chilo Phragmitellus 



This species is one of those moths known as the 'Veneers,' and 

 is popularly termed the Wainscot Veneer. It is one of the largest 

 of the family Chilidce. 



Its fore wings are long, narrow, and pointed at the tip. They 

 are of a pale ochreous brown colour, with a row of small black dots 

 along the hind margin. 



The caterpillar is pale grey, with brown stripes; and the head 



