The Swallow-Tail Moth, 



The Magpie or Currant Moth. 



MOTHS 



T 



HE most casual observer liv- 

 ing in the country is aware 

 that moths and butterflies 

 are very much influenced in 

 their numbers and activity 

 by the kind of weather pre- 

 vailing. I am in the habit 

 of working late at night, 

 and notice an astonishing difference 

 between the numbers that enter my 

 study window during a hot, dry summer 

 and a cold, wet one. 



The Wood Leopard, although widely 

 distributed in three continents, is by no 

 means a common moth. In the cater- 

 pillar stage it lives in the trunks and 

 branches of ash, apple, and other trees. 

 Although a handsome creature with a 

 very appropriate popular name it is 

 just as well that the limitation of its 

 numbers should prevent it from rank- 

 ing amongst the destructive pests. 



In appearance the Puss Moth re- 

 minds one of a Persian cat. Its 

 white wings and body, marked with 

 black spots and dark grey transverse 

 lines, render it a handsome insect. If 

 irritated, the caterpillar of this species 

 possesses the power of discharging an 



22 169 



acrid fluid from an opening in the 

 throat. 



The Magpie, or Currant Moth, flies by 

 day as well as by night, and is cordially 

 hated by gardeners on account of the 

 destruction it does in the caterpillar 

 stage to the leaves of currant and goose- 

 berry bushes. It is a most unpalatable 

 creature and, as birds will not touch it, 

 can afford to dress in striking colours 

 that render it easily seen whether on 

 the wing or at rest. 



During some seasons the Swallow-Tail 

 Moth is quite common. Its fore wings 

 are of a delicate yellow colour marked 

 by two narrow transverse lines of olive 

 brown. It is a conspicuous insect when 

 on the wing during a July evening. 



The Tiger Moth, one of our largest 

 and handsomest insects, is capable of a 

 wing expansion of between two and three 

 inches. The dark parts of the fore wings 

 shown in our illustration are of a rich 

 coffee brown colour, and the light ones 

 either creamy yellow or white, the species 

 being liable to considerable variation. 



The White Plume Moth is one of the 

 most delicately formed insects to be 

 found. Its fore wings are divided into 



