CLEAR- WINGS. 2 1 3 



similar colour nearer the base. The legs are orange- 

 yellow. In fact, the colouring of this Moth is almost 

 identical with that of the hornet, the peculiar rich, warm 

 brown of the markings and the yellow of the ground 

 colour being almost exactly identical in both insects. 



The caterpillar of this Moth burrows into the 

 wood of the poplar and aspen, and in its tunnel 

 undergoes all its changes. When the larva is full-fed, 

 it spins for itself a rather tough cocoon, made of small 

 fragments of wood bound together with silk, and the 

 Moth emerges about midsummer. The larva of this 

 species passes two years in the tree before it changes 

 to the pupal state. 



The commonest insect of this genus is the Currant 

 Clear-wing (Sesia tipuliformis), which may be found 

 in the summer-time resting on the leaves of the 

 currant. It bears a remarkable resemblance to a 

 gnat, whence the name tipuliformis, i.e., formed like a 

 gnat. There are two longitudinal yellow streaks on 

 the thorax, and three bars of the same hue across the 

 body. 



The larva of this Moth lives inside the twigs and 

 young branches of the currant, from which it bores 

 out the pith, and often kills the branch. Indeed, 

 whenever a bough of the currant begins to wither 

 away without any perceptible cause, a larva of this 

 Moth may generally be found within it. 



THE family of the Zeuzeridae is remarkable for 

 the fact that the females are furnished with a long 

 and hard ovipositor, by means of which they can 

 introduce their eggs beneath the bark of the trees on 



