BEITISH MOTHS. 



inside of a piece of loose bark or to the tree 

 itself; at others, spun up tightly among 

 decayed leaves, dead grass, &c., in August and 

 September. (The scientific name is Pcecilo- 

 campa Populi.) 



92. The Small Eggar (Erioy aster lanestris). 



92. THE SMALL EGGAR. Fore wings 

 reddish-brown, paler towards the hind margin, 

 and having a white spot at the base, and 

 another in the centre of the wing ; and beyond 

 the central white spot, half way between it 

 and the hind margin of the wing, is a narrow, 

 waved, transverse, white line : hind wings 

 pale red-brown with a straight, pale, indistinct 

 bar across the middle of the wing ; antennae 

 with the shaft brown, the fringe pale-brown ; 

 head and thorax red-brown ; body red-brown 

 at the base, smoky-brown and very hairy at 

 the end; in the female, furnished with a 

 great quantity of silky hair, with which she 

 covers her eggs. The caterpillar is gregarious, 

 feeding in company, and when young, spinning 

 a web over the hawthorn, on which it com- 

 monly feeds, but sometimes also on elm. It 

 is slightly hairy, and almost black, with three 

 white spots and two red warts on the back 

 of each segment; there is also a pale-grey 

 stripe along each side. It spins a small, 

 oval, very compact cocoon at the end of June, 

 and the Moth appears the following February. 

 (The scientific name is Eriogaster lanestris.} 



93. The Lackev (Bornbyx neustria). 



93. THE LACKEY. Fore wings bright red- 

 brown or yellow, with two pale, oblique, trans- 



verse bars, the first rather before the middle, 

 the second rather beyond the middle ; in the 

 yellow specimens these bars are dark-brown 

 the fringe at the hind margin is alternately 

 pale and dark ; hind wings red-brown, 

 generally slightly paler than the fore wings, 

 with a very indistinct straight bar across the 

 middle ; head, thorax, and body, bright red- 

 brown. A very variable insect, scarcely two 

 specimens being exactly alike. The cater- 

 pillar is long, slender, and flaccid ; it has no 

 power to roll itself in a ring ; in its early 

 life it is gregarious, spinning the web over the 

 leaves and twigs of the apple-trees, and giving 

 them a completely unhealthy and blighted, if 

 not disgusting appearance; on thisweb the half- 

 grown caterpillars may sometimes be observed 

 sunning themselves by dozens. The head is 

 blue-grey, with two spots looking like eyes ; 

 the second segment is blue-grey, with four 

 black spots ; all the other segments are 

 striped throughout ; there is a central white 

 stripe down the very middle of the back ; on 

 each side of this is a slender black line, then 

 an orange-red stripe, then a black stripe, 

 spotted with blue, then a narrow and inter- 

 rupted orange stripe, then a broad blue stripe, 

 then an orange stripe, dotted on each side 

 with black, and below this, near the legs, the 

 caterpillar is blue-grey, dotted with black ; 

 it spins an oblong sulphur-coloured cocoon, 

 in which a sulphur-coloured powder is abun- 

 dantly intermixed. In this it changes to a 

 smooth brown chrysalis, from whence the 

 Moth emerges in July. The female lays her 

 eggs in the neatest possible ring round the 

 twigs of the apple-trees. (The scientific name 

 is Bombyx neustria.} 



94. The Ground Lackey (Male) (^cmbyx castrensis). 



94. THE GROUND LACKEY. Fore wings of 

 the male dull red-brown or yellow, with two 

 transverse bars ; the first, before the middle of 

 the wing, turns inwards towards its base be- 



