INSECT PESTS OF TIMBER 135 



fluid, by the way, has a strong goaty scent and 

 has been the cause of the popular name assigned 

 to this insect. At the end of three years, the 

 larvae, having seriously damaged the tree, travel 

 to the outside and wander about in search of a 

 suitable spot to pupate. Their cocoons are made 

 of silk mixed with wood chips — soft within and 

 armour plated without. 



A closely related moth of very similar habits 

 is the Wood Leopard, Zeuzera cescuU ; even 

 more catholic in its tasks than the Goat Moth, 

 it attacks various fruit trees. Horse Chestnut, 

 Ash, WUlow, Poplar, Elm, Sycamore, Birch and 

 Hawthorn. 



The Clearwing Moths are also wood borers in 

 their larval stages. The Hornet Clearwing, 

 Sesia bembiciformis, so called because it very 

 closely mimics the Hornet, deposits its eggs on 

 the stems of the Goat Willow, and the larvse 

 bore the wood energetically during the whole 

 of their lives. 



Fortunately for foresters in this country, many 

 of the worst pests of forest trees are tropical or 

 sub-tropical. The tropics teem with insect life, 

 and a fair proportion devote their energies to 

 the leaves or stems of trees. 



Of the insects harmful to timber, by far the 

 most notorious are the Termites or White Ants. 

 None of them occurs in Britain. They feed upon 



