264 



Insect Pests. 



THE DOT MOTH. 



{Maincfitrd pcrsicuria-. LiuD.) 



The Dot Moth caterpillars are very frequently recorded as pests 

 on the gooseberry. Their food plants are ^'ariell ; as a rule garden 

 flowers suffer most, sucli as dahlias, marguerites, marigolds, pansies, 

 geums, etc. ; vegetables are also eaten by these larva=, including 

 cabbages of all kinds, lettuce, mint, parsley ; fruit trees and bushes 

 are also attacked ; there are numerous accounts of tlieir feeding on 

 the gooseberry and now and again on apple, plum, ras^jberj-y, currant. 



[/■. Jitlemh-n. 

 FIG. 1S5.— 5IUTH AND CATEIlFILL.iU OF THE I'lJT ^lOTil {M il iliertnl J^ersimrl^r). 



Other plants u^ion which it feeds are lilac, poplar, clematis ivy 

 etc. (1). 



They are ravenous feeders, stripping tlie plants in a very short 

 time. 



This insect is found all over (ireat I'.ritain and in most parts of 

 Continental Europe. 



The caterpillars are subject to great variation in colour, ap]iarentlv 

 influenced to some extent by their food; the colouring rendering 

 tliem often extremely dilTrcult to hud wlieu at rest upon their food 

 plant. 



