NOCTTONI. 



41 



FAMILY XIII. BOMBYCID.E. 



90. The Pale Oak Eggar (Trichiura Cratxgi). 



91. The December Moth (Pxcilocampa Populi). 



92. The Small Eggar* (Erioy aster lanestris). 



93. The Lackey (Bombyx neustria). 



94. The Ground Lackey (Bombyx castrensis). 



95. The Fox Moth (Bombyx Rubl}. 



96. The Oak Eggar (Bombyx Querati). 



97. The Grass Eggar (Bombyx Trifolit). 



98. The Drinker (Odonesti-s potatoria). 



99. The Lappet (Lasiocampa quercifolia). 



100. The Small Lappet (Lasiocampa ilicifolia). 



101. The Kentish Glory (Endromis versicolor). 



102. Tho Emperor Moth (Saturnia carpini). 



TUB THIRTEENTH FAMILY of Moths is called 

 Bombycidcf. All the Moths are of considerable 

 size and generally of a brown or grey hue ; the 

 caterpillars are mostly hairy, and the chrysalis 

 smooth, that is without hairs, a character that 

 will at once distinguish a chrysalis of this 

 family from one of the foregoing This family 

 contains thirteen Moths. 



90. The P.ile O.ik Eggar (Trichiura Cratiegi). 



90. THE PALE OAK EGGAR. Fore wings of 

 the male grey, with an oblique central trans- 

 verse bar of a darker grey ; this central bar is 

 bordered on each side by a waved line still 

 darker and almost black ; the innermost of 

 these lines curves round to the base of the 

 wing. In some specimens I have seen, from 

 the North of England, the ground-colour is 

 almost white, and the bar almost black : hind 

 wings grey with a slight darker transverse bar 

 about the middle ; head, thorax, and body dark 

 grey, the body ending in two fanlike tufts of 

 hairs. Female dark brown-grey with few and 

 very indistinct markings : the end of the 

 body rounded and hairy. The caterpillar is 

 dark-grey, with two red bristly tubercles on 

 each segment, and a row of pale spots along 

 each side. It feeds on whitethorn and black- 

 thorn, and spins a small brown oblong cocoon. 

 The Moth appears in August and September. 

 (The scientific name is Trichiura Cratcegi.) 



91. THE DECEMBER MOTH. Fore wings 

 smoky-brown, shading to mahogany-colour at 

 the base, and having two conspicuous, waved, 

 oblique, transverse, pale bars ; the first of these 

 is very short, and near the base of the wing, 



91. The December Moth (Pmalocampa Populi'). 



forming a boundary line to the mahogany- 

 colour ; the second is beyond the middle of 

 the wing, and between the two is a crescent- 

 shaped but rather indistinct spot : hind wings 

 smoke-coloured, with a straight pale bar across 

 the middle of the wing : the antennae have 

 the shaft brown, the fringe smoke-coloured ; 

 the head brown ; thorax smoky-brown, with 

 a pale collar in front, body smoky-brown, 

 with long hairs at the end. The caterpillar 

 is very beautiful, and most varied in colour ; 

 I have often seen it sunning itself on the 

 trunks of oak-trees, on the leaves of which it 

 feeds : it seems as though it came down out 

 of the tree to display its great beauty to the 

 passer-by, but the more probable cause of this 

 habit is, that its similarity to the diversified 

 colour of the lichens on the trunk may 

 perhaps deceive the sharp eyes of birds, which 

 are ever on the watch for such a dainty din- 

 ner ; the colours are black, grey, and white, 

 and there is a yellowish stripe along each side, 

 and two reddish tubercles on the second seg- 

 ment ; it spins a small, very compact, black, 

 oval cocoon, and in this it changes to a smooth 

 brown chrysalis, which sometimes comes out 

 in the next November or December, but if the 

 weather at this particular time proves unfa- 

 vourable, it remains in the cocoon one, two, 

 three, four, and even five years. The cocoons 

 may be looked for in various situations 

 and on various trees ash, poplar, fcc. Some- 

 times they will be found firmly glued to the 



