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JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER, [ September 19, 1872. 



Brazil, where it is epiphytal upon trees, like the majority of 

 the members of this genus. The leaves are long, linear-oblong, 

 and acuminate, glaucous, and armed at the edges with reddish- 

 brown spines. The scape is densely clothed with bright red 

 bracts, whilst the petals are bright blue enclosed in rose- 

 coloured sepals, the whole forming a rich and attractive display. 

 JEchitea glomeeata. — This, again, is another species from 

 Brazil well deserving the attention of all lovers of plants. The 

 leaves are about 18 inches long, broad, obtuse at the apex, 

 and armed at the edges with small, distant black spines. The 

 scape is erect, stout, from S to 12 inches long, densely clothed 

 with bright red bracts, whilst the flowers are deep blue. — 

 Expekto Ceede. 



SOME PREDATORY INSECTS OF OUR 

 GARDENS.— No. 35. 



The caterpillar of the Leopard moth (Zeuzera jEsculi) is cer- 

 tainly more common than formerly in many places ; perhaps 

 this may be due to the circumstance that rather a wholesale 

 destruction of sparrows has been carried on in some districts, 

 and these birds are known to be particularly fond of preying 

 upon the moths when they emerge in June and July. This 

 caterpillar is to be found in a much greater variety of trees 

 than its relative, the Goat moth, which divides with the 

 former the honours of tree-boring in our London suburbs ; 

 but the Croat moth seldom attacks trees in orchards, while the 

 Leopard moth frequently worts insidiously in the wood of 

 Plum, Pear, and Apple, being very partial to the Pear, and 

 preferring the main stem to the branches. It has been 

 asserted by a distinguished entomologist that, in the first place, 

 it rarely diminishes the fruit-bearing power of the tree, but 

 even sometimes makes the tree yield more plentifully; and 

 secondly, that it never Mils a tree. I am not, however, con- 

 vinced that these are logical conclusions. A tree mined by the 

 Leopard caterpillar may appear to do well, and " put on a 

 spurt," but this is, in all probability, followed by a reaction, 

 and I have noticed trees thus infested which have almost 

 ceased to bear. . On the other question, though innocent of 

 causing the death of the tree by the immediate effect of its 

 jaws, the caterpillar prepares the way for other insect ma- 

 rauders, and also by the holes which it makes in the wood 

 communicating with the outer air, it exposes the tree un- 

 favourably to the influences of rains and frosts ; for this 

 caterpillar, unlike most other wood-feeding larva?, occasionally 

 quits its gallery, as I have lately observed, especially in the 

 spring of the year, and it likes to have a handy track to the 

 exterior, by means of which it will now and then eject " frass." 

 There is now no doubt that the larval condition lasts two 

 seasons, perhaps even more, though there is an annual emer- 

 gence of the moths. The females remain very inactive upon 

 the trunks of the trees for some time ; the males are more on 

 the alert, and fly briskly, but die off much sooner. A man, 

 crossing one of our metropolitan parks, picked one of these 

 Leopard moths off a tree as a great prodigy, and it was taken 

 into a public-house and placed in the parlour for exhibition 

 under a glass. It happened, however, to be a male specimen, 

 and a series of frantic evolutions soon removed all the scales 

 from the elegantly-spotted wings, very much to the surprise 

 of the discoverer as he surveyed his rarity when it had settled 

 down from exhaustion. 



Common enough just at this season ' of the year in the 

 flower and kitchen garden, and even appearing occasionally in 

 the conservatory, though entering that locality rather by acci- 

 dent than design, is the caterpillar of the 'White Ermine ( Arctia 

 Menthastri). The moth is often seen in June, sitting on 

 walls and palings, or crawling on grass plats rather languidly 

 in the daytime. This caterpillar is one of the general feeders, 

 and when nearly full-grown consumes a good number of leaves 

 in a short time. Probably its more natural food is a variety 

 of* low plants, it being frequently seen along the roadsides in 

 the country feeding upon chickweed and plantain. Having 

 found its way into our gardens, however, it thrives well enough 

 there, and a list of the species on which it has been caught 

 regaling would be a long one. Its inclination to hide during 

 the day often prevents the horticulturist from detecting it, 

 and, moreover, upon a sudden alarm it rolls into a hairy baU 

 in the manner of the, as abundant, Tiger caterpillar. The 

 name " Woolly Bear " is loosely applied to this caterpillar in 

 common with others. Though from its protective coating it 

 escapes almost entirely from being made a prey by birds, an 

 ichneumonideons parasite deposits its eggs on the hairs, and 



the grubs produced burrow into the body of the caterpillar. 

 Also individuals not unfrequently die at the time of change of 

 skin. The hairs in this caterpillar are brown, almost approach- 

 ing black ; the body is also brown, with a pale stripe along the 

 back, and less distinct stripes along the sides. Having ma- 

 tured, it spins a cocoon of hairs and silk inter min gled, in 

 which it remains through the winter, ilany of these may be 

 found by gardeners in the winter attached to boards, old 

 flower-pots, dead leaves, and twigs, and, if not of an entomo- 

 logical turn, the finder will do wisely to destroy them, as each 

 female moth deposits a considerable number of eggs, which 

 are yellow, pearly, and laid in clusters of twenty or more. 

 The moth receives its name of Ermine from the cream-coloured 

 wings covered with black spots, varying in number and size ; 

 the body is marked conspicuously with three rows of these on a 

 yellow ground. The Latin name wa:j given because the insect 

 was supposed to be partial to the species of Mentha, bnt 

 though I have seen it on M. viridis in gardens, it was not 

 more numerous on that plant than on others. 



Near akin to the species just described is that called in our 

 vernacular the Buff Ermine, and in science Arctia lubricipeda. 

 and we may say of it, as of its predecessor, that it is one of 

 those caterpillars which are a source of annoyance rather than 

 of positive injury to the horticulturist. A certain number of 



them appear each season, 

 but, unless in very excep- 

 tional eases, they do not 

 muster strongly enough to do 

 much harm. Arctia lubri- 

 cipeda really has a preference 

 for weeds, such as the com- 

 mon docks, and hence it is 

 often more prolific in waste 

 places than in cultivated 

 ground ; but if a moth finds itself in a garden it deposits eggs 

 there readily enough, and the young brood takes to any plants 

 which are handy. Still, it would not be advisable to do as 

 some one suggested — namely, to grow a select bed of weeds in 

 a corner of one's garden, as a sort of refuge for the destitute, 

 because caterpillars of an omnivorous habit are also very" 

 erratic in their disposition. I do not know that in this par- 

 ticular instance the caterpillar deserves to be called lubricipeda 

 — i.e., slippery-footed, but it is certainly a remarkably rapid 

 walker ; and though under ordinary circumstances one of these 

 creatures crawls along demurely enough when engaged upon a 

 I caterpillar's chief pursuit — filling its interior, yet if it be 

 I interrupted or alarmed it suddenly becomes excited, and moves 

 i along at a rate which is astonishing. Something, however, of 

 | a spasmodic character this must be, for it pulls up as sud- 

 i deniy after awhile and remains still. Perhaps it was through 

 a habit of the moth's that the species received its name, for 

 if it be touched it draws up its legs and feigns death, and 

 A. Menthrasti does the same thing — a natural protection 

 i against enemies, birds especially. The Buff Ermine has the 

 colour its name describes, the wings being chequered with 

 ! spots of a black hue, some of the smaller forming a line 

 1 across the fore-wings, the hind-wings have only two or three. 

 "We at once distinguish this caterpillar from its hairy relative 

 by its dirty-white, unpleasant-looking colour, the hairs being 

 long and light brown ; a broad stripe runs along each side. 

 The cocoon is placed near or on the ground. This insect is 

 said to be very scarce in the north. 



The caterpillars of these Ermine moths cannot be snared 

 to then- destruction, nor are they appreciably affected by 

 fumigants, though, when tolerably young, they may be killed 

 by thoroughly wetting the leaves on which they have been 

 noticed. If they have escaped in the beginning of the season, 

 and so have attained a good size, they must be searched for 

 in the evening, or early in the morning when they are mostly 

 " on the move." 



Reports vary somewhat, but it is generally asserted that this 

 is a bad year for Pears, and personal observation on my part 

 confirms this so far as the metropolitan distriet is concerned. 

 As a friend remarked to me sorrowfully, the bad years seem to 

 be more frequent than the good, and he was, I found, inclined 

 to attribute this more to the influence of unfavourable springs 

 than to the predatory insects, of which so many attack the 

 Pear and its allies. But it is certain that the insect called the 

 Red Bud caterpillar, Spilonota ocellana, does much injury, 

 just at that time when the tree is in a critical condition in the 

 matter of fruit-bearing. The moth which it produces might 

 be deemed a pretty species were it not so harmful. The 



