MOTHS. GEOMETR1D.E ; TORTRICIDJ5. 



183 



FIG. 409 PHAL^ENA GROSSUI.ARIATA. 



the larger sombre-coloured night-flying Lepidopterous insects ; 



and contains 400 British species, which bear a very strong 



resemblance to each other. The family GEOMETRID^E, so named 



from the peculiar mode of progression of its Caterpillars ( 702), 



is nearly allied to the preceding ; but the Moths it includes are less 



exclusively nocturnal, and are more brightly coloured. To this 



family belongs the com- 

 mon Magpie Moth (Fig. 

 409), whose larva and 

 pupa have been already 

 represented (Fig. 396) ; 

 also the Swallow-tailed 

 Moth, and many other 

 well-known species. The 

 TORTRICID^} constitute a 



numerous group, composed of minute and usually dull-coloured 



Moths, whose larvae are ex- 

 tremely destructive to vege- 



tation. One of these, known 



as the Codling Moth, is one 



of the most destructive ene- 

 mies to the Apple crops of this 



country ; laying its eggs in 



the eyes of the newly-formed 



fruit, within which the larva 



feeds, its presence being only 



indicated by the premature 



falling off of the fruit. 



Another species does great 



damage to our apricot trees 



in the early spring, by tying 



the young shoots together 



with threads, so firmly that 



their growth is stopped, and 



by devouring the young 



blossom-buds. Another species (Fig. 399) feeds upon the Oak, 



which in certain years it totally strips of its foliage : its numbers 



Fm. 410. PYRALIS VITIS. 



4, Male ; 4 a, Female ; 4 6, Caterpillar ; 



4 c, Eggs ; 4 d, 4 e, Pupae. 



