THE CANARY-SHOULDERED THORN 67 



PLATE XXXV 

 THE CANARY-SHOULDERED THORN (2) 



There are several different kinds of "Thorn" 

 moths, but you can always tell the Canary- 

 Shouldered Thorn from the others by just looking: 

 at the middle part of its body, which is thickly 

 covered with very long hairs of a bright canary 

 yellow. It appears on the wing in August, and 

 is very fond of flying into a lighted room after 

 dark. Sometimes, too, it will sit on the glass 

 of a street-lamp and remain there all night long 

 without moving, gazing at the flame within. 

 If it can get inside the lamp, it will often burn its 

 wings so badly that it cannot fly away. And 

 just now and then you may find it sitting on a 

 fence, or on the trunk of a tree. 



The caterpillar of this moth is one of the 

 "loopers," and is dark brown in colour, with 

 lighter markings, and with two little humps on 

 its back. Look for it on the leaves of birch, lime, 

 elder, oak, and fruit trees during the month of 

 June. About the first week in July it spins a 

 little silken cocoon, and turns into a light brown 

 chrysalis, with a few whitish markings. 



