74 MOTHS 



PLATE XXXVIII 

 THE WINTER MOTH (2 and 3) 



This is perhaps the very commonest of all our 

 British moths. It simply swarms in all parts 

 of the country, and on any mild day from the 

 beginning of November till the end of January 

 you may see it in hundreds, resting on fences 

 and tree-trunks. And after dark it visits almost 

 every street-lamp, and sits on the glass gazing 

 at the flame within. But if you want to see the 

 female you must look for her very carefully, for 

 she is a little grub-like creature with hardly any 

 wings at all, very much like that of the " spring 

 usher," except that she is brown instead of white. 

 You may often find her hiding in the cracks of 

 the bark of fruit trees, to which the caterpillars 

 sometimes do a very great deal of damage. 



These caterpillars differ a good deal in colouring, 

 for sometimes they are light green, and some- 

 times they are dark green, and sometimes they 

 are smoky brown. But they always have a black 

 stripe down the back, and three white ones on 

 either side. There is hardly a tree or a bush 

 on the leaves of which they do not feed, and in 

 May and June you may often see them in thousands 

 and thousands. 



