THE BUFF TIP 81 



PLATE XLIH 



THE BUFF TIP (i and 2) 



Most people know the caterpillar of this moth 

 a good deal better than they know the moth itself. 

 I dare say that you have often seen it crawling 

 about in August and September, always walking 

 very fast, as though it were in a great hurry. It 

 is a big, rather hairy creature of a dull yellow 

 colour, with a black head, and with nine black 

 stripes running along its body ; and you may find 

 it in numbers, feeding on the leaves of elm, lime, 

 and willow trees. Very often, indeed, it is so 

 plentiful that it strips whole branches of their 

 leaves. When it reaches its full size it comes 

 down from the tree, wanders off to some little 

 distance, hides away under dead leaves or at 

 the roots of a tuft of grass, and turns into a 

 dark brown chrysalis, out of which the moth 

 hatches in the following May or June. 



The reason why one sees this handsome moth 

 so very much seldomer than the caterpillar is 

 that it always rests with its wings folded closely 

 against its body, in which position it looks just 

 like a piece of broken stick. But you may often 

 find it clinging to the trunk of an elm or a lime 

 tree, or to a long grass-stem growing under- 

 neath it. 



