

WOOD LEOPARD. Zeuzera ctiuu 



GOAT-MOTH. Oossus llgniperda. (And larva.) 



The common Swift Moths of England are well known, more especially the GHOST- 

 MOTH, an insect so called from a rather unique habit in which it indulges. The two sexes 

 are very different, the upper surface of the male being of a bright silvery whiteness, while 

 the female is dull brown. In both sexes the under surfaces are brown. The female lurks 

 in the grass towards even-tide, and is there rendered invisible by her sombre colouring. 

 The male hovers just above her, remaining in one spot for a wonderful length of time, 

 its white wings glittering ghost-like in the air, and altogether presenting a decidedly 

 spectral aspect, which is increased by the fondness of this insect for haunting church- 

 yards, where the grass is mostly green and luxuriant. If the creature be alarmed, it 

 disappears like magic, vanishes utterly from sight like an extinguished spark, leaving no 

 trace of its presence, nor giving the least sign of the direction in which it has departed. 

 After a little pause, the white unearthly meteor is seen in precisely the same position, 

 having become visible as mysteriously as it vanished. 



The method by which this alternate vanishing and reappearance is managed is simple 

 enough, consisting merely in taking advantage of the different colours of the upper and 

 under surface of the wings. As long as the moth is undisturbed, it hovers quietly, 

 exhibiting the white upper surface. But when alarmed, it drops to the ground or settles 

 on some plant, where it hangs so as to display only the brown under surface, and is 

 consequently as invisible as its hidden mate. Many persons have been greatly terrified 

 by this moth. 



THE well-known GOAT-MOTH is, next to the death's-head moth, one of the largest of 

 the British Lepidoptera, ita body being thick, stout, and massive, and its wings wide and 

 spreading. 



The reader may perhaps have observed certain large round holes in the trunks of trees 

 into which a finger can be readily thrust, and out of which an empty chrysalis case often 

 projects. These are the burrows made by the caterpillar of the Goat-moth, and often are 

 very destructive to the trees. The larva itself is but little smaller than that of the 

 death's-head moth, and is by no means an attractive-looking creature. Its body is smooth 



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