THE DARK-SPOTTED SWIFT MOTH. 75 



absorbing the life and substance of the caterpillar 

 attacked, hence the dry and white corky substance 

 mostly present when dried specimens of the fungus are 

 broken in halves. There is no doubt whatever in my 

 mind that the soft nature of the segment near the 

 head and prothorax forms a suitable place for the spores. 

 This subject is a most interesting one, and well worthy 

 of close and further investigation by naturalists living 

 in parts of the world in which these singular vegetable- 

 caterpillars occur. 



To the grazier the presence of these large under- 

 ground larvae is not assuring, as quantities of grass 

 must, by reason of losing its roots, be consumed without, 

 to him, any apparent cause. 



Prevention and Remedies. 



Fortunately for the grazier, not ten per cent, of the 

 moths, although the female lays a large number of eggs, 

 ever come to perfection, birds especially, such as the 

 Podargus, and also bats, are ever on the alert for 

 them, and, as such useful helps, should be rigorously 

 protected. The rightly-abused sparrow, too, will not 

 hesitate to tackle an isolated specimen of this large 

 moth, a few occasionally making their appearance 

 during the day time, but these solitary individuals 

 seldom escape the attention of either birds or ants, or 

 both, the ants biting the wings off the crippled victims, 

 carrying the fragments to the formicarium in sections. 

 When this can be done with safety, fires lighted here 

 and there will attract large numbers of these moths ; 

 and it should be borne in mind that every female (which 

 is the larger of the two) killed, is one less for egg- 

 laying. 



I have included this moth in the destructive insects 

 list, as the caterpillars, being large and living a long 

 time in the ground, must do a lot of damage, which 

 latter has possibly been improperly attributed to grubs 

 which are altogether distinct from this species. 



