168 FOEESTEY WOEK 



smaller. Appear in June or July. The larvae are flesh- 

 coloured, legs yellow, head black; 3 to 3J inches long. 

 Eggs are laid in the crevices of the bark, and the larvae, 

 after hatching out, eat their way into the timber, where 

 they live for three or four years, honeycombing the 

 tree. This moth also attacks Ash, Elm, Willow, or 

 Poplar. 



It gets its name from the smell arising from a dark 

 brown liquid that oozes from its burrow. Caterpillars 

 found in September. 



Pygcera Bucephala (Buff -Tip Moth). This moth is a 

 beautiful one. Its forewings are mottled with all shades 

 of grey tinged with brown, and each has a buff- coloured 

 tip; hence the name. When the wings are folded the 

 moth looks exactly like a broken twig, its head (also buff- 

 coloured) and tips of the wings representing the broken 

 parts. It measures from 2 to 2J inches across the wings. 

 The caterpillars are about If to 2 inches long, and hairy, 

 of a dull yellow colour, with nine black bands running 

 round the body. They are usually found in clusters, and 

 when in great number will soon defoliate a tree. They 

 are found in August or September. The moths hatch out 

 in the following May or June. 



Orgyia Antiqua (Common Vapour er Moth). The male 

 moths are chestnut- brown in colour, with a crescent- 

 shaped spot on each forewing. The female is almost 

 wingless. The caterpillar is common, and coloured with 

 a mixture of brown, grey, red, and yellow, with little 

 tufts of hair upon its back. It feeds upon the leaves of 

 the Oak, and also most "other hardwood trees. 



