198 



THE INSECT WOBLD. 



in this country, resting on the trunks of willows and poplar- 

 trees, from the end of May till the middle of July. It resem- 

 bles a hornet, and is of the same size and has the same colours ; 

 only they are not quite so bright. When this moth is just 

 hatched, its wings are ferruginous ; but its scales, light and 

 caducous, fall as soon as the insect begins to fly. The caterpillar, 

 which lives in the trunks or roots of willows and poplar-trees, is 

 of a yellowish colour. The pupa is long, of a brownish colour, 

 enclosed in a cocoon composed of agglutinated saw-dust, the pro- 

 duct of the caterpillar's erosions. 



In the middle of summer the meadows are frequented by moths, 

 with brilliant black and velvety wings, marked with red, which 

 fly heavily and only for a short time together. They remain 

 motionless during the great heat of the day. These are the 



y or Burnets, of the family of the 

 The Earn Sphinx of Geoffrey, 

 or the Six- spot Burnet-moth (Zyg&na 

 filipendulcB] (Fig. 175)., is common from 

 the end .of June till the beginning of 

 August. Its legs, antennge, head, and 

 body are black and rather hairy ; its upper 

 wings are of a brilliant bluish green, with 

 six spots of a beautiful red on each, bordered by a little green. 

 The caterpillar is yellow spotted with black; its 

 cocoon is boat- shaped, with longitudinal furrows, 

 and is straw colour (Fig. 176). 



Next to Zyg&na comes Procris, a species which 

 fly during the day in fields. We will mention par- 

 ticularly the Procris statices (Fig. 177), which is 

 plentiful enough where it occurs between the middle 

 of June and the middle of July, on the sides of 

 hills. Its fore wings, antennae, and the whole of its 

 body, are of a blue green above. The same wings 

 are of the same colour below, and the surfaces of 

 the lower ones are of an ashy brown. 



The Sphinges, that is, those species that form the 

 Fig. 176 -cocoon family of the Spkinqidce, have received this general 



oftheZygama > 1-11- -n 



name from the attitude which their caterpillars 



Fig. 175. Six-spot Burnet-moth 

 (Zyqeena /ilipendulee) 



