382 



BRITISH MOTHS. 



the same colour as the hind wings, and tufted 

 at the extremity in the males. 



The female lays her EGGS on oak (Quercus 

 Jiobur) in August, and less commonly on horn- 

 beam (Carpinv.s betulus) ; the CATERPILLARS 

 abound in the following May, particularly 

 from the middle to the end of the month, and 

 beginning of June. Although, doubtless, 

 occasionally feeding on leaves, they seem to 

 prefer animal food, devouring with great 

 greediness the caterpillars of other Lepidop- 

 tera, particularly those of the winter moth 

 (Cheimatobia brumata), which absolutely 

 swarm in our woods, forests, and gardens 

 during the entire month of May and the 

 beginning of June. It neither feigns death 

 nor rolls in a ring when rudely dislodged by 

 the beating-stick, but falls at full length into 

 the umbrella, amid a shower of the other 

 caterpillars which the same stroke has also 

 dislodged : in this predicament it instantly 

 catches sight of the first caterpillar that 

 ventures to crawl, and starts in immediate 

 pursuit, and an exciting race ensues, in which 

 the Cosmia is not always the victor, the Chei- 

 matobia sometimes escaping through sheer 

 superiority of speed : the carnivorous cater- 

 pillar, however, generally gains the day, and 

 it is curious to observe that he does not seize 

 the leaf-feeder by the hinder part of the body, 

 but never slackens his pace until his head is 

 abreast of the other's neck, which he then 

 seizes with savage eagerness, reminding one 

 strongly of a deerhound pulling down a stagj 

 or at least of the representations of this cruel 

 feat by the inimitable Landseer. When the 

 first paralysing grip is given, it is all over 

 with the leaf -feeder ; there is scarcely a 

 struggle ; the Cheimatobia submits to its fate, 

 and the Cosmia continues his repast, until one 

 wonders at his power of consumption : when 

 introduced into the collecting-box with any 

 other caterpillars, a somewhat similar scene 

 ensues, but the chance of escape for the leaf- 

 feeder is gone, and his destruction is inevit- 

 able . I have rarely, if ever, opened a box in 

 which a Cosmia and Cheimatobia have been 

 enclosed together, without finding that the 

 latter has- fallen a prey to the former. The 



head of the Cosmia caterpillar is manifestly 

 narrower than the body, very glabrous, and 

 porrected in crawling ; the body is obese, 

 slightly narrowed at the anterior extremity, 

 and slightly swollen on the back of the 

 twelfth segment. The colour of the head is 

 dusky semihyaline green ; the body is pale dull 

 green, with numerous small warts, and five 

 equidistant pale, almost white, stripes ex- 

 tending its entire length ; these stripes are 

 often tinged with yellow or yellow-green, and 

 the outer or lateral sti'ipe is often bordered 

 with dark smoke-colour along its upper 

 margin ; the warts are jet-black and each 

 is surrounded by a ring of pure white, and 

 emits a rather conspicuous bristle ; on each 

 segment there are tisually eight of these 

 warts ; on the second, third, and fourth seg- 

 ments they are arranged in a straight trans- 

 verse series, but on the following segments, 

 namely, the fifth to the twelfth inclusive, 

 four of them are arranged almost in a square 

 on the back, and two below them on each side ; 

 the medio-dorsal stripe is narrow, but very 

 distinct ; the next on each side is still 

 narrower, irregular, and interrupted ; the 

 exterior or lateral stripe is much wider than 

 the others, and very distinct ; it includes alt 

 the spiracles, except the first and ninth ; the 

 upper margin of this wide stripe is sometimes 

 bordered with black, which merges abruptly 

 in the general ground-colour : the ventral 

 surface, including the legs and claspers, is 

 delicate apple-green, with a semitransparent 

 appearance. It changes to a CHRYSALIS in a 

 slight web on the surface of the earth : the 

 chrysalis is of a brown colour, covered with 

 a beautiful bloom like that on a ripe Orleans 

 plum. 



The MOTH appears on the wing in July, and 

 occurs in all the English, Scotch, and Irish 

 counties that have been investigated by en- 

 tomologists. (The scientific name is Cosmia 

 trapezina.) 



Obs. The presence or absence of the deli- 

 cate bloom on the chrysalids of this family of 

 Tnoths is very interesting, andiiotunfrequently 

 forms an excellent character by which to sepa- 

 rate nearly allied species from each other. 



