46 MOTHS 



PLATE XXIV 

 THE HORNET CLEARWING (4) 



This is the largest of all the British "clear- 

 wings," and it really does look so very much like 

 a hornet that most people would be quite afraid 

 to meddle with it for fear of being stung. But 

 if ever you should happen to meet with the moth 

 you can tell it from a real hornet quite easily ; 

 for if you look closely at it you will see that its 

 body is not smooth and shiny, but is covered all 

 over with close, soft down. The best place to 

 look for it is on the trunks of poplar trees, quite 

 close to the ground, in June and July; for after 

 it comes out of the chrysalis it always sits on 

 the tree-trunk for some little time in order to 

 dry its wings. And you will nearly always find 

 that it is sitting quite close to the burrow which 

 it made when it was a caterpillar, and in which 

 it lived for no less than two whole years. 



There is another kind of "hornet clearwing," 

 whose caterpillar feeds in the stems of osiers 

 instead of in the trunks of poplar trees. But it 

 is not at all a common insect, and you are not 

 very likely ever to find it. 



