THE PEACH BLOSSOM 83 



PLATE XLIV 



THE PEACH BLOSSOM (2) 



This is really a lovely moth, for on each of its 

 olive-brown front wings it has five large spots, 

 which are coloured exactly like the petals of a 

 peach. But if it is put away in a collection these 

 spots very soon fade, unless the insect is kept 

 in the dark, and after a few months they become 

 almost white. 



The caterpillar of this moth is a very odd- 

 looking creature indeed, for when it is resting 

 on a leaf of its food-plant it only makes use of 

 its middle feet, and holds both the front ones 

 and the hind ones up in the air! Besides this, 

 it has quite a row of little humps on its back, 

 the front one of which is sometimes so large that 

 it forms a kind of hood, and partly covers the 

 head! You may sometimes find it feeding on 

 the leaves of bramble bushes growing in woods 

 in August and the early part of September. 

 When it has grown to its full size it spins a 

 slight cocoon of silken threads among the leaves, 

 and turns into a blackish-brown chrysalis, with 

 a sharp little spike at the end of its body. Out 

 of this the moth hatches in the following June 

 or July. 



