INSECT AND OTHER PLANT ENEMIES. 



113 



would pass through their various stages to the 

 perfect fly as if nothing had happened. 



Currant Clear-wing Moth (Troclulium 

 tipuU forme). — This singular-looking moth mea- 

 sures 9 to 10 lines across the expanded wings, 

 the fore ones of which are transparent, except 

 the margins and a central spot, which are black, 

 tinted with orange. The hind- wings are fringed 

 and very narrow, with the margins similarly 

 coloured. The body is almost wholly black, 

 and the abdomen is engirdled with three yellow 

 rings, with a tuft at the tail end. The grub is 

 whitish, with a pale-brown head, and two spots 

 behind the same. It bores into the shoots of 

 Currant bushes, feeding upon the pith from 

 October to April, when it pupates in the shoot, 

 and the moth comes forth in June. 



Remedies. — Shoots that present a sickly ap- 

 pearance in spring when putting forth their 

 leaves (which flag in strong sunshine) should 

 be examined, with a view to determine whether 

 they are hollow. If such is the case, the shoots 

 should be cut away down to the solid portion, 

 and split open, to destroy the grub, or put in a 

 basket to be taken away and burnt. This may 



Fig. 14S.— Currant Clear-wing Moth {Trochilium tipuliforme) and Larva. 



be done at the winter pruning when shortening 

 back the shoots, if hollow ones are detected. 

 Burn all the primings without delay, and other 

 grubs will be destroyed, even though their 

 presence is not detected They might still be 

 near the tip of the shoots, especially when 

 pruning is done early. 



Currant-shoot Moth (Incurvaria capitella). 

 — The moth is about 7J lines across the fore- 

 wings, which are dark-brown, with a pale- 

 yellow patch about J above the base, and two 

 others above the middle. The hinder wings 

 are gray, and all are fringed. The caterpillar 

 feeds in the pith of young shoots of the Red 

 Currant during spring, and probably also in 

 autumn; when full fed it is pale-green, with 

 vol I. 



a red patch on the back, thinly hairy, and has 

 the head and neck black. The perfect insect 

 appears about the end of May. 



Remedies. — Shoots containing a grub betray 

 it by the young leaves withering in April; all 



Fig. 147.— Currant-shoot Moth (Incurvaria capitella.). 

 1. Moth (magnified). 2. Moth (natural size). 3. Caterpillar (magnified;. 



such should be cut off immediately, and burnt 

 to destroy the enemy. 



Goat Moth (Cossus ligniperda). — The moth 

 varies from a little under 3 inches to 3J inches 

 across the expanded wings, the front ones of 

 which are dusky-brown, shaded with white, and 

 having wavy, transverse lines. It is one of the 

 largest of British moths, and its caterpillar 

 when full grown is 3 inches to 4 inches long. 

 The head of the latter is black, and the back 

 reddish-black, fading at the sides to chestnut- 

 red, and to flesh-colour underneath. It also 

 emits a strong, disagreeable odour, compared to 

 that of a goat, by which it may readily be 

 recognized, independently of its habit of burrow- 

 ing deeply into the trunks of various fruit and 

 forest trees, making tunnels almost as wide as 

 the little finger. This huge caterpillar lives 

 and feeds upon the wood for three years, but 

 lies inactive during the winter months; it 

 pupates near the mouth of the burrow, and the 

 moth comes forth about the end of June and 

 the beginning of July. Successive broods are 

 reared in the same tree if allowed to proceed 

 unchecked, and their presence is easily detected 

 by the saw-dust-like material ejected from the 

 burrows. 



Remedies. — Trees whose stems have become 

 gouty and much eroded with numerous burrows 

 are not worth the trouble of clearing of cater- 

 pillars, of which there may be a hundred in a 

 single trunk. They should be cut down, split 

 open, and used as firewood. The big moths are 

 sluggish, and may easily be caught as they rest 

 on the surface of the tree by day. Fine netting 

 or gauze, fastened round the trunk and over 

 the burrows in June and July, would imprison 



