62 



Insect Pests. 



\F. Edendeii. 

 FIG. 5:i.— FEMALE MARCH MOTH. 



{Anisoiyteryx cescularia. Schiff.) 

 (Greatly enlarged to show side view of tail tuft.) 



woods, and along hedgerows. The c 

 greyish-brown, with dark and pale wavy 

 in the photograph (Fig. 51), and there 

 near the upper border of each wing ; 

 the wing expanse varies from l;j to 

 Ih inch ; the hind wings are pale 

 grey, with a darker line more or less 

 continued from the outer line on 

 each fore wing. 



The female is greyish to greyish- 

 brown and quite wingless, and has a 

 very pronounced fan -like tail of 

 hairs. She crawls up the tree trunks, 

 just as the two preceding do. The 

 eggs are laid in a partial band, vary- 

 ing in size from I to nearly h inch 

 across, they are deposited in more or 

 less parallel rows and are embedded 

 in hairs from the fan-like extension 

 of the tail ; the eggs are bright and 

 shiny, and vary in number in each 

 ring. Ormerod (1) records as many 

 as five hundred in a ring, this appears 

 to be exceptional, some fifty to two 

 hundred being a wide limit. 



The eggs hatch in April. The 



Cambridgeshire and in 

 Yorkshire. The popular 

 name is derived from the 

 date of its appearance. 

 Specimens may, however, 

 be taken as early as mid 

 February and as late as 

 mid April, a few strag- 

 glers going on until the 

 end of the month. 



Life-History and 

 Habits. 



The male moth flies at 



dusk and may be found 



in gardens, orchards, 



olour of the fore wings is 



lines running across, as seen 



is a small dark brown spot 



FIG. 53. 

 CATEKPILLAR OF THE MARCH MOTH. 



