WINTER MOTH. 235 



falling to the ground ; but when this is the case, he is 

 bent double, and remains a long time in that posture.' 



In spite of the very conspicuous colouring of this 

 caterpillar, it is not eaten by birds, seeming to be dis- 

 tasteful to them. It is also distasteful to toads. If 

 one of these larvae be placed before a toad, it will be 

 snapped up as soon as it moves, but will at once be 

 rejected, the toad moving off as if disgusted with a 

 creature on which it hoped to feed. The colour of 

 this larva is creamy white, spotted and striped with 

 orange, and having a number of bold black spots and 

 stripes, as seen in the illustration. 



The pupa is smooth and black, with a slight tinge 

 of red, banded with yellow, so that the caterpillar, the 

 pupa, and the perfect insect have all the same colour- 

 ing. The Moth appears in the middle of summer. 



QUIET and simple-looking as is the WINTER 

 MOTH (CJieimatobia brumata), w r hich is represented in 

 the accompanying illustration, there are few of our 

 British insects which do more harm to the trees, espe- 

 cially the fruit-trees. 



The colour of the upper wings is greyish-brown, 

 more or less tinged with yellow, and marked with a 

 few waved transverse bars of a darker tint. The 

 lower wings are much the same colour, but almost 

 without markings. Owing to its peculiar habits, this 

 is one of our most familiar Moths. It appears in the 

 cold months of November and December, and on a 

 sunshiny day may be seen flitting along the hedges 

 in perfect content, even though the ground be thickly 

 covered with snow. 



