BUTTERFLIES AND MOTHS. 19! 



glutinous secretion, and lined with silk. It is con- 

 structed near the mouth of the burrow, a hole being 

 cut through the bark to the surface, so as to enable the 

 emerging moth to escape. This takes place in June and 

 July. The moth is a heavy, lazy creature, and will sit all 

 day long on the trunk of a tree which it has brought 

 to destruction. In summer the presence of the 

 invader is readily indicated by the exuvice of the 

 chrysalis sticking out of the trunk or branch. 



Pliny, alluding to the cossus of the Romans, says, 

 11 These worms even have now begun to be looked 

 upon as delicacies by epicures, and the large ones 

 found in the oak are held in high esteem ; they are 

 known to us by the name of ' cossis/ and are even 

 fed with meal, in order to fatten them." Some think 

 that these grubs were the larvae of the stag beetles, 

 others that they were the caterpillar of the goat- 

 moth. Caterpillars are not now esteemed a delicacy 

 in Europe. 



The Wood Leopard l is a smaller insect than the 

 goat-moth, which it resembles in its habits. The 

 caterpillar is only about an inch and a half long, of 

 a yellowish colour, with four or five black spots on 

 each side of the segments. It lives on various trees, 

 ash, elm, oak, holly, beech, &c. The males are 

 evolved from the pupa in June, and the females a 

 month later. The female measures a little over two 

 inches across. The wings are rather transparent, and 

 spotted with black. The males are active and lively 

 in the evening, but the females are sluggish. The 



1 Zeuzera czsculi. 



