210 HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 



reddish-brown patch at either extremity. It lives in the interior 

 of many trees, avoiding, however, those which have a very hard- 

 grained wood. Most of the forest trees are subject to its attacks, 

 and the ordinary fruit-trees of our gardens, such as the apple, pear, 

 chestnut, and walnut, are often seriously damaged by this pretty 

 but destructive insect. Like the goat moth, it makes a strong co- 

 coon, in which it can lie safely throughout its pupal condition, 

 and, as with that insect, the walls of the cocoon are rather rough 

 outside and smooth within. When the cocoon is quite dry it is 

 very brittle, and is apt to snap if carelessly handled. This cocoon 

 may often be found when the trees are cut up for firewood ; and 

 as it generally lies very near the exterior, a strong pocket-knife 

 will sometimes disclose it. 



The perfect insect is remarkably pretty, considering the sim- 

 plicity of its coloring, which consists of black upon white. The 

 former color, however, is so disposed, that the wings look as if 

 they were made of the minutest miniver, and the feathery anten- 

 nae add considerably to its beauty. 



Some of the most elegant and curious British Lepicloptera are 

 also among the most destructive. 



The various species belonging to the remarkable family iEge- 

 riadse, properly called Clear- wing Moths, are terrible enemies to 

 the gardener, as well as to the landowner, their larvae feeding 

 upon the pith, and generally preferring the young wood to that 

 of a more advanced growth. In some cases they live in the roots, 

 and are quite as destructive as their relations who prefer the 

 branches. All the Clear-wings are distinguished by the fact that 

 the greater part of their wings is simply membraneous and trans- 

 parent, without the beautiful feathery scales that are worn by the 

 Lepidoptera as an order. Some of them resemble hornets, others 

 are often mistaken for wasps, while several species are wonder- 

 fully like gnats, and as they fly about in the sunshine may readily 

 be mistaken for these insects. 



Of one of these insects, JEgeria asil/formis, known to collectors 

 as the Breeze-fly Clear- wing, Mr. J. Bennie writes as follows : 

 "We observed above a dozen of them, during this summer, in the 

 trunk of a poplar, one side of which had been stripped of its bark. 

 It was this portion of the trunk which all the caterpillars selected 

 for their final retreat, not one having been observed where the 

 tree was covered with bark. The ingenuity of the little archi- 



