THE BUFF TIP 37 



example, we have a British species, the Buff- 

 Tip (Pygaera bucephala). As in the former 

 instance, the moth deposits ova in batches on 

 the undersides of the leaves of oak, sallow, etc. 

 The larvae, on hatching, occupy a single leaf, 

 and when this is demolished proceed to the 

 next, and so on, until they attain a size when 

 one leaf will not contain them all ; still, they 

 do not wander further than the adjacent 

 leaves. Eventually, the twig being stripped, 

 the party with one accord makes a retrograde 

 movement, marching back down the stem to 

 the first or second bifurcation, thence travel- 

 ling upwards to start feeding in a fresh place ; 

 or, it maybe, they will proceed to quite another 

 part of the tree before resuming their chief 

 business in life. These communities, however, 

 do not form a nest or spin a matted web ; but 

 when nearly full grown, members are inclined 

 to stray, though this is not invariably the case. 



Larvae of the Small Eggar Moth (Eriogaster 

 lanestris) form colonies and spin an irregular 

 web on whitethorn. 



Several species of British butterflies (Vanes- 

 sidae) dwell together in companies, and one of 

 the Flitillary group (Mehtaea aurinia) colon- 

 izes, the larvae sheltering throughout the 

 winter under a dense web spread over the 

 scabious plant. 



