THE CONFLUENT BARRED MOTH. 619 



On examining one of the pupae, it will be found that the 

 antennee are led down the body as usual, but are then rolled 

 spirally round the end of the tail, so as to make quite a bold 

 knob, thus disposing of their enormous length in a very small 

 compass. 



There is another common and most beautiful species, the 

 Green Longhorn, in which the upper wings are glittering 

 golden-green, instead of gold-brown and pm-ple. The colour of 

 the wings much resembles that of the young oak-leaf, on which 

 the Moth loves to sit, and, were it not for the gleam of the 

 waving antennae, it might readily escape observation. Both 

 these species are common in oak copses, and are often taken in 

 the sweep net when the collector is searching for beetles. Six 

 jpecies of Long-horn Moths are known to inhabit England, the 

 two which have been mentioned being the most conspicuous. 



As an example of the leaf-rolling Tinese, we will take that 

 very well-known species which infests the lilac, and is known 

 by the popular name of the Confluent Barred Moth {Gracil- 

 laria syringella). It is a pretty little insect, the upper wings 

 being ochreous and mottled profusely with dark brown, while 

 near the tip of the wing there is an eye-like mark with a black 

 centre. The lower wings are greyish-brown. In consequence 

 of its food it is sometimes called the Lilac Moth. 



The caterpillar of this insect undergoes two distinct stages of 

 larval life, and is at one time a burrower and at another a 

 leaf-roller. Almost as soon as the egg is hatched, the little 

 caterpillar, which is then scarcely recognisable without a mag- 

 uifying-glass, eats its way into the interior of a leaf, and there 

 remains for some time, feeding on tlie parenchyma, or soft 

 substance between the upper and under sides of the leaf. 

 Before very long it grows too large for this habitation, and 

 then makes its way into the open air, where it immediately 

 sets about preparing a more suitable home. The mode in 

 which it does so is very curious. 



Selecting a rather young and tender leaf, the tiny caterpillar 

 attaches a number of silken threads to the edges and tip, and 

 fastens the othci ends of the threads to the middle of the leaf, 

 fixing them in a row, so that they look something like the warp 

 threads in a loom. These threads, slight as they may be, are 



