112 



INSECTS. 



wheat devouring the corn grains. As its scientific name implies, the pine-moth 

 (Trachea piniperda) is in the larval state very destructive to pine-trees in seasons 

 favourable to a great increase in their number. When young, they spin together 

 the needles of the pines, and often drop themselves by a thread to various points, 

 whither they may feel inclined to descend. The pupa may be found in plenty 

 amongst the moss which so often carpets the ground in pine-woods. The moth 

 itself is cinnamon-red, with white blotches and spots. It is common in England 

 and on the Continent. A figure of the moth and larva is given on p. 105. The 

 merveil du jour (Dipthera orion), figured in the illustration below, indicates 

 another subfamily (Acontinm). It has the fore-wings of a pale green, with 

 longitudinal white stripes, and three broken transverse black bars, the fringe 

 being spotted with black and white. The egg is* described as resembling a sea- 

 urchin, having twenty sinuous ribs. The larva is black, with large primrose 

 yellow spots on the back of the third, fifth, and eighth segments. It feeds in 



1, MERVEIL DU JOUR. WITH LARVA ; 2, RUSTIC SHOULDER-KNOT, WITH LARVA J 3, FIGURE-OF-EIGHT 



MOTH, WITH LARVA. 



September upon the oak and birch, and the pupa is enclosed in a cocoon of bark 

 chips, or fragments of decayed wood. This insect is very rare in England, but 

 common on the Continent. In the same group, the caterpillar of the white- 

 spotted pinion (Cosmia diffinis), as well as that of the closely-allied C. trapezina, 

 are remarkable for their habit of preying upon their fellow-caterpillars if confined 

 together, otherwise their food consists of the leaves of various trees. The moth of 

 the species figured in the illustration is very beautiful, being of a satiny chestnut, 

 suffused with reddish grey, and having two somewhat transverse slashes from the 

 margin of the wing. Not uncommon in England, it is even more abundant on the 

 Continent. The crimson under- wings (Catocala), which indicate another subfamily 

 (Guadrifince), and are known in the New Forest as the crimsons, are rich 

 chocolate-brown of various hues, with deep crimson under- wings, marked with a 

 pair of transverse black bands. They come to sugar freely in July, and are 

 common in some parts of England. The finest and rarest of these beautiful 

 insects is the Clif den nonpareil (Catocala fraxini), very rare in England, but more 



