THE CURRANT CLEARWING 45 



PLATE XXIV 



THE CURRANT CLEARWING (3) 



The " clearwings " are very odd little moths with 

 transparent wings, which have no scales upon 

 them at all, except just on the narrow black 

 borders. The consequence is that they do not 

 look in the least like moths. They look much 

 more like flies, or gnats, or wasps, or hornets. 

 They nearly all come out in June and July, and 

 you may see them resting on leaves in the hot 

 sunshine. 



Another curious thing about the " clearwings " is 

 that their caterpillars feed, not upon the leaves 

 of plants and trees, like almost all other cater- 

 pillars, but upon the pith of the stems or the 

 twigs, or even upon the solid wood of the trunk 

 or the branches; so it is very difficult indeed 

 to find them. When they are fully fed they turn 

 into chrysalids with rows of tiny hooks along 

 their bodies, by means of which they can wriggle 

 their way backwards and forwards along the 

 burrows which they made when they were cater- 

 pillars. 



The Currant Clearwing is so called because its 

 caterpillar feeds on the pith in the young shoots 

 of currant bushes. It is very common in almost 

 every kitchen-garden, and sometimes does a 

 good deal of mischief to the currants. 



