THE PROUESSIONARY MOTH. 



59 



The Notodontidce are a family of larger Moths, measuring from half an inch to two inches and a half 

 across the wings, which are rather long, and rounded at the extremity. Many of them are called "Promi- 

 nents," from a projection on the inner margin of the fore wings. The Moths are generally of dull 

 colours white or brown, with darker markings, or tawny, with dark lines or white spots on the costa. 

 But the caterpillars are far more interesting from their strange shapes and habits. The first which 

 we shall mention is the Puss Moth, a common insect, of which the caterpillar feeds on poplar and 

 willow. The Moth 

 measures nearly 

 three inches across 

 the wings, which 

 are white, suffused 

 with greyish, with 

 zigzag blackish 

 transverse lines. 

 The thorax and 

 abdomen are 

 spotted with black. 

 The caterpillar is 

 green, with a large 

 retractile head bor- 

 dered with red, 

 and a dark mark 

 on the back, varied 

 with greyish-brown 

 or red, and bor- 

 dered with white. 

 This mark is very 

 broad in the middle 

 (where it is some- 

 what greenish), and 



then tapers off towards the tail. The caterpillar has only fourteen legs, the claspers being replaced 

 by two long, slender tubes, from which soft threads can be protruded. This large, green, hump- 

 backed caterpillar, with its forked tail, can hardly be mistaken for any other. There are three 

 species of the same genus found in Britain, which are sometimes called " Kittens " by collectors, 

 but they are much smaller as well as much rarer. 



One of the prettiest Moths of this family is Microdonta bicolera, which is snow-white, with 

 orange spots on the fore wings, and expands about an inch and a half. It is a great rarity in 

 England. 



The Lobster Moth (Stauropus fagi) is also rather a scarce insect, though much commoner than 

 the last. It is of a brownish-grey, with darker markings, and expands about two inches and a half. 

 The caterpillar is chestnut-brown, with enormously long legs and two projections at the extremity 

 of the body. It feeds on a great variety of trees, and when at rest it stands on its prolegs, and lifts 

 up both extremities of its body, giving it, as may well be supposed from its long front legs, and its 

 two anal appendages, a very odd appearance, which has given the Moth its English name. 



The Processionary Moth (Cnethocampa processioned) is an obscure, yellowish-grey insect, 

 with darker markings, and expands rather more than an inch. It is only doubtfully British, 

 but is frequently met with on the Continent, where the caterpillars, which are bluish-black on 

 the back and whitish on the sides, feed gregariously on oaks. They form large webs, and go 

 out to feed in regular order, first one, then two, then three, &c. They are covered with fine barbed 

 hairs, and these, as well as the dust in the webs, are so terribly irritating to the skin, that it is 

 scarcely safe to approach the nests ; and it is even said that death has sometimes been caused by the 

 swelling and inflammation thus produced. 



Another larger species feeds on fir-trees, and is not found so far north as the last (C. pityocampa). 



PUSS CATERPILLAR AND MALE MOTH. 



