THE CLEARWING, THE LUNAR, AND THE GOAT MOTH. 643 



movements of the humming-bird moth, and dart about with consider- 

 able speed, though they are not so craftily wary as that insect, and can 

 be captured with comparative ease. 



In the ^geriidse the wings are as transparently clear as in the Sesi- 

 adse, and the general aspect is equally like that ofn moth. The Clear- 

 wing Moth is very common in England, and is fond of haunting cur- 

 rant-bushes, where it may be captured without much difficulty, being 

 rather dull and sluggish in taking to flight, though when once on the 

 wing it is quick and agile in its movements. On account of its resem- 

 blance to the large gnats it is popularly called the Gnat Clearwing 

 {^geria tipulijormis). The caterpillar of this insect feeds upon the 

 pith of the currant trees. 



The Lunar Hornet Clearwing (TrocMlium bemhedjorme) is an 

 insect which is of tolerably, but not very, frequent occurrence. Its 

 popular name is given to it in allusion to its singular resemblance to 

 a hornet, the similitude being so close as to deceive a casual glance, es- 

 pecially when the insect is on the wing. 



The larva of the present species feeds upon the willow, boring into 

 the young wood, and sometimes damaging it to a serious extent. All 

 these insects inhabit, while in the larval state, the interior of branches 

 or roots, and make a kind of cocoon from the nibbled fragments of the 

 wood. Just before undergoing the transformation the larva turns round, 

 so as to get its head toward the entrance of the burrow, and after it has 

 changed into the pupal form is able, by means of certain projections on 

 the segments, to push itself along until the upper half of the body pro- 

 trudes through the orifice and permits the perfect moth to make its 

 escape into the open air. 



The wings of this insect are transparent, with orange-red nervures 

 and dusky fringes. The head and thorax are shining brown-black, 

 with a yellow collar, and the abdomen is ringed with orange and dark 

 brown. 



The well-known Goat Moth is, next to the death's-head moth, one 

 of the largest of the British Lepidoptera, its body being thick, stout, 

 and massive, and its wings wide and spreading. 



The larva itself is but little smaller than that of the death's-head 

 moth, and is by no means an attractive-looking creature. Its body is 

 smooth and shining, mostly of dull mahogany-red tinged with ochreous 

 yellow, and having a large oval patch of chestnut on the back of each 

 segment. It is gifted with a curiously wedge-shaped head, and its mus- 

 cular power is enormous, as may be proved by actual experiment dur- 

 ing the life of the creature or inferred from the marvellous arrange- 

 ment of muscles which are made visible upon dissection. 



It exudes a liquid of powerful and fetid odor, thought by some to 

 resemble the unpleasant effluvium exhaled by the he-goat. Its influ- 



