320 



PROTECTION AOAINST INSECTS. 



beneath the orbicular spot {daviform stir/ma). These mark- 

 mgs are constant in position, but some or all of them may be 

 absent. The body is thick, and usually covered with down ; 

 the head surrounded by a collar. Flight nocturnal or during 

 twilight, hardly ever by day. 



CaterpiUars usually bare, rarely hairy, commonly with 10 

 prolegs, sometimes with 8 or 6. 



Pupation of the bare caterpillars generally takes place in the 

 ground, in a cocoon made of grains of sand bound together by 

 a few threads. The hairy caterpillars spin a cocoon alcove 

 ground. Pupae usually slim, spindle-shaped and dark coloured. 

 Many of the caterpillars live on woody plants, eating needles 

 and leaves, but the majority of them feed on grasses and low 

 plants. A few species are highly injurious to forests. 



Fig. HJd.—Xocli/d piiiipcrda, Tan/. {Nulnral nizc : iig. r ciiliii-god.) 

 a Male, b Female, c Eggs on a pine-needle, d Caterpillar, c I'upa 



1. Noctiia pinipcrda, Panz. {Vine Beauty, or Phie A^octua). 

 a. Desrriplion. 



Moth with a wing-expanse of 35 mm. ; fore-wings russet-red 

 marbled with grey ; orbicular and reniform stigmata yellowish- 

 white, conjoined, the latter large, oblique and produced towards 

 the tip of the wing ; hind-wings and abdomen greyish-brown. 



Caterpillar 40 mm. long, with 1() legs, almost hairless, of a 

 yellowish-green, with 3 or 5 whitish-coloured stripes and a 

 light-brown head. 



