68 



NATURAL HISTORY. 



these (Botys verticalis and urticalis] are common among nettles, on which the caterpillars feed. They 

 expand about an inch and a half. The former is pale, shining, yellowish-white, with grey markings, 

 and the latter is white, with a row of connected dark spots on the borders, and a row of more separated 

 spots within. The base of the fore wings is yellow, and beyond it are several large dark spots. 



The Grambi may be known by their very narrow fore wings, and very broad hind wings, which 

 are folded round the body when at rest. The two principal families are Phycidce and Crambidu. 

 The former are small and frequently dull-coloured Moths, many of which live on dried fruits in the 

 caterpillar state, and are consequently common in warehouses. A few years ago an enormous white 

 web, many feet in length and breadth, formed by the caterpillars of Ephestia elutella, was found 

 on the wall of a chicory warehouse at York. The Crambidce, or Grass Moths, generally have brown 

 or straw-coloured fore wings, intersected by a white or silvery longitudinal streak ; the hind wings are 

 brown, and the palpi project in front of the head, forming a kind of beak. They are easily disturbed 

 when we walk through long grass, but they soon settle again, when the long cylindrical form which 

 they assume when at rest makes them difficult to find. The small family of the Galleridce are 

 remarkable for their caterpillars feeding on wax in bee-hives, where they sometimes cause great mischief. 

 The Tortricidce, or Bell Moths, may be known by their broad truncated fore wings, which meet 



together over the back, 

 and give the insect some- 

 what of the shape of a 

 bell when at rest. The 

 caterpillars generally live 

 in rolled-up leaves, but 

 some feed on fruit, roots, 

 &c. ; a few form galls. 

 The maggots which infest 

 our apples and plums 

 are the caterpillars ot 

 species of the genus Car- 

 pocapsa. There is a 

 Mexican species (C. sal- 

 titans}, the caterpillar of 

 which lives in the seeds 

 of aEuphorbiaceous plant, 

 and possesses the faculty 

 of leaping, carrying its 

 house with it. There are 

 aboutthree hundred speci- 

 mens of TortricidtK found 

 in Britain ; one of the 

 CLOTHES' MOTH. commonest is the Green 



Oak Moth (Tortrix viri- 



dana). It measures nearly an inch across the fore wings, which are green, whereas the hind wings 

 are brown, and it may often be dislodged in a perfect shower, if an oak tree bo skaken. 



The Tinece are a very numerous family of small Moths, to which belong nearly one-third of the 

 Lepidoptera of Britain. Their bodies are slender, and their wings are long and narrow, with very long 

 fringes. There is a great diversity of form, markings, and habits among them. The Tineidce, or 

 Clothes' Moths proper, generally feed on driel animal substances, such as cloth, hair, or feathers, 

 though some species feed on corn, &c. They often feed both on and in their food, those that attack 

 clothes forming a tube of the substance on which they feed, in which they live, and which they 

 enlarge when necessary. The Adelidce, or Long Horns, are green, sometimes streaked or spotted 

 with yellow. They may be known by their very long antennae, which are about three times as long as 

 tha expanse of their wings. The genus Depressaria, belonging to the great family Cfelechidce, con- 

 tains dull-coloured Moths, with rather broad and flattened bodies. They are rather large for Tinece, 



