38 TIGER MOTH. 



almost all insects lose their colour when exposed 

 to the light, and that if he does not keep his 

 specimens in utter darkness the colour will fade. 

 The Tiger Moth is very liable to fade, and some 

 of my specimens, from which the light has not 

 been carefully excluded, are quite pale in colour. 

 The larva or caterpillar is familiarly known by 

 the name of the Woolly Bear, in consequence of 

 the dense coating of long hair with which it is 

 covered. A figure of this larva is shown in the 

 illustration on the preceding page, fig. ] . It feeds 

 chiefly on the common dumb nettle, and consumes 



Tiger Moth Hammock. 



great quantities of the plant, as I can testify, 

 from having had to feed upwards of four hundred 

 Woolly Bears while experimenting on the com- 

 parative anatomy of the insect in its stages. 



When it has finished feeding, it spins a loose 

 kind of silken hammock (see the above illus- 

 tration), and, after throwing off its larval 

 skin, lies recumbent as a pupa until the middle 

 of the summer, when it emerges in its perfect 



