358 The Rose Garden. 



The first species to be described is the common Gold-tailed Moth (Liparis auriflua), the 

 caterpillar of which, known in many parts of the country as the " palmer worm," is a 

 frequent visitor to the Rose. It appears to be a general feeder, the Rose forming only one 

 of many plants which it lays under contribution, and even with this flower it is by no 

 means of a fastidious appetite, sometimes devouring the leaves, at others the petals of the 

 flowers themselves. The caterpillar when full fed is about an inch in length ; it is very 

 hairy, in colour black, with two bright red stripes down the back. The hairs are some white 

 and some black, and two of the segments of the body are ornamented with humps. It is a 

 beautiful and conspicuous object, and may often be observed basking in the sun, and under 

 such circumstances is easily seen and captured. We would, however, caution persons 

 with tender skins from handling it too freely, for it has the power of causing a very unplea- 

 sant itching and inflammation. When full fed it spins a web somewhere amongst its food 

 plant, and changes therein to a brown chrysalis. The moth is satiny white, with three 

 indistinct dusky spots on each of the upper wings ; the extremity of the body is ornamented 

 with a tuft of yellow hairs, whence the species derives its name. It appears in July, and 

 may often be caught at rest in the day-time on blades of grass under hedges and in ditches, 

 and from its size and colour it is easily recognisable. The caterpillar is found during May 

 and June, and again in the autumn, but specimens caught in the latter season are always 

 very small, this being one of the species which hybernates or passes the winter season in 

 the caterpillar state. 



The next moth we have to describe is "The Lackey" (Bonibyx neustria), and although, 

 like the preceding, it is not entirely confined to the Rose, it is nevertheless far more destruc- 

 tive, and ranks amongst the most voracious devourers of our flower, for not only do the 

 caterpillars attain to a greater size than those of the species above described, and are there- 

 fore compelled to assimilate a proportionately larger quantity of green food, but also until 

 they are within a day or two of changing to pupae they are gregarious, living together In 

 large numbers, and spinning for themselves a capacious web in which they dwell secure. 

 It may easily be imagined that an army of these leave but few leaves behind them on even 

 a large Rose tree, and during the past summer we had under observation several colonies 

 of these caterpillars upon various kinds of Rose bushes, the branches of which they stripped 

 bare. Later in the season also we found the eggs of this species, which, embedded in a 

 gummy substance, form a hard mass, and are laid in a beautifully formed and even ring 

 encircling the twigs of the Rose. The caterpillar is slightly hairy, grayish black in colour, 

 striped longitudinally with orange and blue alternately. When full fed it is about two inches 

 in length ; it is somewhat slender and soft to the touch. It spins a whitish cocoon either 

 amongst its food plant or in some convenient spot near, in which it changes to a brown 

 chrysalis. The moth is very variable in colour ; the average of specimens are yellowish 

 brown, with two darker lines running across the front wings. The hind wings are pale, 

 with an indistinct bar across the middle. There are also specimens in which the prevailing 

 tint is red brown, and in such the lines across the front wings are distinctly shaded off to 

 pale brown. The caterpillar appears in spring and early summer ; the moth in July. The 

 latter measures from an inch and a quarter to an inch and a half in the expanse of the 

 upper wings. 



The "Winter Moth" (Cheimatobia brumata), an insect which has proved so destructive 

 both in this country and on the continent of Europe to fruit trees, is also a frequent and 

 troublesome visitor to the Rose. In some summers they are specially numerous, and the 

 damage they cause very considerable. The following description of the caterpillar will, we 

 think, serve for its identification if met with : Colour apple green, with three or four very 

 fine white lines running longitudinally the whole length of the body, which is further adorned 



