50 MOTHS 



PLATE XXVII 

 THE WOOD LEOPARD (i) 



This is not a very common moth, but it seems 

 rather more plentiful than it used to be, more 

 especially near London. You may sometimes see 

 it resting on the trunks of trees in July and 

 August. Then, if you examine the tree-trunk 

 carefully, you are almost sure to find the entrance 

 to the burrow out of which it came; for the 

 caterpillar of this moth is one of those which 

 feed on the solid wood of trees. The female 

 moth lays her eggs in the crevices of the bark, 

 and as soon as the little caterpillars appear they 

 nibble their way into the trunk with their power- 

 ful jaws, and there live for several months, bur- 

 rowing backwards and forwards, day after day, 

 till sometimes the wood is almost honeycombed 

 with their tunnels. Sometimes they live in oak 

 trees, sometimes in elms, sometimes in beeches, 

 or ashes, or willows. But the wood that they 

 like most of all is that of apple and plum and 

 pear trees; so that the very best place to look 

 for the moth is in an orchard. 



If you ever find a Wood Leopard you will 

 notice that its wings are partly transparent. That 

 is because they have fewer scales upon them 

 than those of most moths, so that they look 

 rather as if they had been rubbed. 



