IX PESTS 165 



stripe, imitates a dead leaf stalk. Their attitudes 

 are stiff and motionless, and it is astonishing how 

 easily the searching eye passes them over though 

 they are comparatively large caterpillars. When 

 one is found the appearance should be carefully 

 noted that the eye may be trained to detect another 

 and not be again deceived, for though not so 

 common as the leaf-rollers one of these pests will 

 soon destroy a bud. 



The larvae of a good many other moths occasion- 

 ally feed on Eose plants, and in certain districts 

 some may become locally special pests. The cater- 

 pillar of the gold-tailed moth (Auriflua), sometimes 

 called the palmer worm, I have found occasionally 

 devouring Eose leaves. This is a beautiful and 

 highly coloured caterpillar, with bright tufts of 

 hair ; it feeds on the leaves of many sorts of trees, 

 but I have most commonly found it on the hawthorn. 



The saw-flies {Tenthredinida) are so called from 

 the shape and nature of their ovipositors, the instru- 

 ments with which the females pierce the leaves or 

 bark for the insertion of their eggs. There are 

 several genera and species which feed on Eose 

 plants, but I have found it impossible, with these as 

 with the moths, to name them all. I was told by the 

 late Eev. J. H. Hocking, who most kindly assisted 

 me in the identification of insects, that there would 

 be no room for Eoses in my book if I were to 

 attempt it. In my groimds there are two special 

 saw-flies (Selandria) , very distinct in habit, and 

 perhaps including more than two species, which are 

 particularly troublesome. 



The presence of the first may be known by the 

 singular appearance of the lower and older leaves 



