LARCH MINING-MOTH. 219 



E. LEAP-MINING MOTHS (Tineidce). 



* The Larch Mining-moth, Coleophora lariccUa (Fig. 53), besides doing 

 great damage by defoliating young Larch woods, opens entrance-holes for the 

 canker-fungus. Moth wing-span under J in., wings ashy -grey or grey- 

 black, with long silky fringes on lower edges. Caterpillar with 16 feet 

 (10 prolegs), dark ruddy-brown, i in. long. Pupa ^ in. long, dark-brown, 

 narrow, covered with fine bristly hairs. Moths fly in May and June, and 

 lay round yellow eggs (soon turning grey) singly on Larch .leaves in 

 plantations 10 to 40 years old, and mostly on lower branches of 10- to 15- 

 year-old poles. The caterpillars hatch out in 3 to 4 weeks, bore into the 

 leaf, eat its contents, and use the empty leaf -case as a protective covering. 

 When full-grown in September it hibernates in this empty leaf-case (now 

 a little yellow-brown sack) attached to twigs, bark-fissures, &c. Next 

 spring it feeds on the new leaves, carrying its sack, and finally pupates in it. 

 Leaves attacked at once wither as if frost-bitten, whole plantations some- 

 times looking as if badly nipped by late frost. Extermination. Small 

 birds, ichneumonidgo, &c., prey on caterpillars, and late frosts and heavy 

 rainfall kill many moths ; but the only practicable measures are to thin 

 Larch-woods in winter or early spring, and remove the thinnings before 

 moths appear in May. 



* Larch Shoot-boring moth, Argyresthia lavigatetta, has recently done 

 serious damage to young Larch plantations up to 20 years old. Wing- 

 span under J in. ; fore-wings glossy silvery grey, with grey or brown- 

 grey fringes, hind - wings dark - grey, not so glossy, abdomen dark - grey. 

 Caterpillar pale-yellow at first, then pale-grey with reddish tinge, and 

 dark-striped near end of back, about | in. long, head and 3 front leg-pairs 

 black. Pupa dark-brown, head black, pointed towards end. Moths appear 

 in May and June, lay eggs on lower part of new shoot, that hatch out and 

 bore into the shoot, where they feed till hibernating in autumn. Early 

 in spring they resume feeding till about end of April, then pupate in 

 the now half -dead shoot, and emerge as moths about four weeks later. 

 Extermination by cutting off and burning damaged shoots containing the 

 caterpillar or pupa. 



F. WOOD-BORING MOTHS (Cossidce). 



* The Goat-moth or "Augur- worm." Cossus ligniperda (Fig. 54), does 

 great damage to broad-leaved trees by the caterpillars boring through the 

 bark into the timber, and often killing old Oak, Elm, Willow, and Poplar. 

 Badly-bored trees are often thrown during storms ; and unless exter- 

 minative measures are adopted, trees attacked become breeding-places. 



Wing-span 2^ to 3 in. for ? and 3 to 3J for <$ ; fore- wings grey-brown, 

 mottled with ashy-grey, and with numerous irregular dark-brown streaks 

 and marks ; hind-wings ashy-grey to grey-brown ; thorax densely haired, 

 with blackish band across it behind, and brown and grey in front. Ab- 



