60 MOTHS 



PLATE XXXI 



THE VAPOURER (3, 4, and 5) 



On any warm, sunny day from the beginning 

 of August till the middle of October you may 

 see a little brown moth darting swiftly about, 

 with a curious zigzag flight. First it flies for 

 a few feet in one direction, then for a few feet 

 in another direction, and then for a few feet in 

 a third direction, and always at some little height 

 from the ground. This is a male Vapourer Moth, 

 and a very pretty little fellow he is, with bright 

 chestnut - brown wings, and a crescent - shaped 

 white mark in the middle of the front ones. But 

 his mate is not in the least like him. In fact, 

 if you were to see her, you would find it very 

 hard to believe that she was a moth at all; for 

 she has no wings, and looks just like a very fat 

 grey grub. She is so fat, indeed, that she cannot 

 even walk, and has to spend her whole life cling- 

 ing to the cocoon in which she lived as a chrysalis. 

 And when she has covered this cocoon all over 

 with her little round white eggs she falls to the 

 ground and dies. 



The caterpillar of the Vapourer moth is very 

 common. You may find it feeding upon the 

 leaves of all sorts of trees and plants in the 

 garden; and you can tell it at once by the row 

 of little tufts of hair, just like tiny shaving- 

 brushes, upon its back. 



