202 LEPIDOPTEEA (MOTHS). 



The male is more of a yellowish-brown colour, and smaller than 

 the female. The adults appear in July and August, and the 

 female lays her eggs in bands (fig. 102) tightly fixed round the 

 smaller twigs and stems of the apple and other fruit-trees : these 

 ribbon-like egg-bands remain on the trees all the winter, often 

 becoming loose, so that the whole band can be turned round like 

 a ring. The larvae hatch in April and May, and live for some 

 time under a tent of silk in large companies. As they grow they 

 spread out over the tree. When mature they reach nearly two 

 inches in length, and are bluish-grey in colour, striped longi- 

 tudinally with orange-red, and between the two lowest bands a 

 broad blue stripe on each side with little black specks, these 

 brilliant lines being separated by black and black spotted with 

 blue ; a pure white line runs down the back, with a narrow 

 dark line on each side. The head is bluish, with two black 

 spots and two on the segment next the head ; body with ta-\vny 

 hairs. They spin a loose cocoon of white or pale yellow sOk 

 amongst the leaves, from which the moth emerges in July and 

 iVugust. The tent of silk sometimes reaches a foot in length. 



Remedies. — Wash with arsenate of lead. In France they 

 cut the tents down with long-handled shears and burn them ; 

 or they can soon be destroyed, like wasp-nests, by blowing them 

 down with a blank cartridge. The eggs are too hard to be 

 affected by any winter wash, but the bands should be pruned 

 off and destroyed in winter. 



The Notodontidae, another family, contains the well-known 

 Puss Moth (Gerura vinula), which lives upon Willows and 

 Osiers, sometimes causing them much loss of leafage. The 

 large hairy moth is greyish-white, with black wavy markings, 

 three inches in expanse of wing in the female, smaller in the 

 male. The curious larvae are provided with two protrusible red 

 tails, which can be extended some distance and waved about to 

 frighten off the Ichneumon Hies that prey upon them. 



Noctuina. — The Noctjee are all, or nearly all, nocturnal in 



