74 CLOUDED MAGPIE. 



be tapped, or if it be suddenly alarmed, it fixes 

 a thread to a twig, and quickly lowers itself to' 

 wards the ground, swinging backwards and for- 

 wards at the end of its thread until the fear of 

 danger has passed away, when it returns to its 

 branch, and resumes the meal on which it is 

 almost perpetually engaged. 



The pupa or chrysalis of this Moth is dark 

 mahogany-brown in colour, banded with yellow, 



Currant Moth, Larva and Pupa. 



so that in this insect we have the curious and 

 nearly unique fact that the larva, the pupa, and 

 the Moth are all marked with the same hues. 



Another of the Magpie Moths is seen on Plate 

 VI. fig. 4. This is the CLOUDED MAGPIE (Abraxas 

 tilmata), an insect which is, to my mind, a hand- 

 somer one than its more conspicuous relative. 



The body of this insect is marked much like 

 that of the common Magpie Moth, and the colours 

 of the wings are of a similar character, though in 



