23 S MOTH: 



often of very elegant colours. Of this tribe is the 

 PhalcenaPadella: it is cf a pearly white colour, with 

 very numerous black spots : its caterpillar is gre- 

 garious, appearing in great quantities on various 

 sorts of fruit-trees during the decline of summer, 

 and committing great ravages on the leaves : these 

 caterpillars inhabit a common web, and usually 

 move in large groupes together: their colour is a 

 pale greyish yellow, with numerous black spots: 

 each caterpillar at the time of its change to chry- 

 salis, envelops itself in a distinct oval web with 

 pointed extremities, and many of these are sta- 

 tioned close to each other, hanging, in a per- 

 pendicular direction from the internal roof of the 

 general enclosing web: the chrysalis is blackish, 

 and the moth appears in the month of September. 



To this divftion also belong the Moths em- 

 phatically so called, or Cloth-Moths. Of these 

 the principal is the Phalcena vestianella, which, in 

 its caterpillar state, is very destructive to woollen 

 cloths, the substance of which it devours, forming 

 for itself a tubular case with open extremities, 

 and generally approaching to the colour of the 

 cloth on which it is nourished. This mischiev- 

 ous species changes into a chrysalis in April, and 

 the moth, which is universally known, appears 

 chiefly in May and June. 



In the last division, called Ahicitas, is one of the 

 most elegant of the Insect Tribe, though not dis- 

 tinguished either by large size or lively colours. 

 It is a small moth, of a snowy whiteness, and, at 

 first view, catches the attention of the observer by 



