XVI INSECTA : LEPIDOPTERA 231 



wings, each marked with six bright red spots, and its hind 

 wings are almost entirely red except for a narrow green 

 border. It is a day - flying moth, and has much brighter 

 colouring than is found in the night-loving forms. 



Tiger Moths Some members of the family Arctiinae are 



and Ermine amongst the commonest and best known of the 

 Moths moths, as for example the garden Tiger Moth {Arctia 



( iinae). ^^^^^ which in its caterpillar stage is known as the 

 " woolly bear." This caterpillar is found on many different 

 garden plants ; it is covered with long, brown, backwardly 

 sloping hairs. When it pupates, it cuts ofi' these with its jaws, 

 and weaves them into the cocoon, which it makes amongst 

 the foliage and within which it pupates. The moth, which 

 emerges in July, is very brightly coloured, the front wings 

 being buff with dark-brown markings and the hind wings a 

 brick-red with black spots. In spite of such bright colouring, 

 usually characteristic of sun-loving forms, this moth only 

 flies at night, and therefore is not often seen. 



The Buff Ermine (Spilosoma luhricvpeda) is also common in 

 gardens, its yellow, grey, or brown caterpillar having a lighter 

 stripe and bushy tufts of hairs down each side. As in the 

 Tiger, the hairs are used to strengthen the cocoon which is 

 spun amongst the leaves and in which the winter pupal stage 

 is passed. In June, the yellowish-white, dark-spotted moth 

 emerges. 



The Footman Moths, the caterpillars of which feed on 

 lichens, likewise belong to the Arctiinae, as do also the 

 Cinnabars, which have conspicuous caterpillars with alternate 

 bands of orange-yellow and purplish -black on them ; they 

 feed on ragwort. 



The Goat Moths are notable because of the habit 



*!cossidae)* which obtains amongst their very large reddish 

 caterpillars of boring into and feeding on the 

 wood of willow and other trees. They live thus in the trunk 

 of the tree for three years, and their presence can often be 

 detected by the goaty smell of the liquid which they excrete. 

 When full grown, and nearly three inches long, the caterpillar 

 often leaves the tree, and may be seen whilst it is searching 

 for a convenient spot in which to pupate ; this usually takes 

 place near some decaying log, for it makes for itself a 

 cocoon of silk mixed with fragments of wood. The moth 



