Rose Friends and Foes, 



99 



brooded. Nor must the Lackey Moth (Clisiocampa neustria) 

 be forgotten, for although not now as common as it at one 

 time was, owing to the war that has been waged upon it, yet 

 it is sufficiently so to constitute a pest where it occurs. Like 

 the last species, the larva is a conspicuous insect ; it is 

 reddish-orange colour on the upper surface, with a white 

 stripe down the cen- 

 tre of the back, a 

 bluish-grey head, and 

 at the sides orange- 

 red, blue, and black. 

 In the young stage 

 the insects are less 

 showily marked, and 

 at first live socially 

 in a common web. It 

 is then that they 

 are readily destroyed ; 

 while the vigilant 

 Rose-cultivator would 

 probably have noticed 

 the ' ' rings ' ' of eggs 

 disposed around the 

 shoots when the tree 

 was bare of foliage, 

 and forthwith burnt 

 them. 



Closely allied to the Gold-Tail Moth is the Vapourer 

 (Orgyia antiqua), whose tufted and still more strik- 

 ing caterpillars, with their paint-brush-like tufts, often 

 do a lot of damage to Rose foliage. It is very 

 common in gardens, feeds on a variety of trees and shrubs, 

 and is a most unwelcome visitor in any garden. The 

 larva is the " Hop Cat " of the hop-fields. This is one of 

 the Moths having wingless spider-like females, and therefore 



H 2 



Caterpillar of Gold-tail Moth (Liparis auriflua) 



