88 MOTHS 



PLATE XLVI 

 THE OLD LADY (2) 



If you were to ask me why this moth should 

 be called the "Old Lady," I am not quite sure 

 that I could tell you. But I think the reason 

 must be that old ladies mostly dress in dark 

 grey, or dark brown, or black, which are just the 

 colours of the wings of the moth. It is quite a 

 common insect in most parts of the country, and 

 yet one very seldom sees it; for it always hides 

 away during the day-time in some dark nook 

 or cranny, where it is not very easily found. 

 Perhaps the best place to look for it is inside a 

 boat-house, or a summer-house, or a shed, about 

 the end of July or during the first or second 

 week in August. And if you find it, and frighten 

 it away, it will very often come back again in a 

 short time to exactly the same spot. 



The caterpillar of this moth feeds on the leaves 

 of various fruit-trees, on which you may find it in 

 May. It has a smooth, velvety body of a dingy 

 brown colour, with a number of paler and darker 

 markings, and on the back is a row of eight dark 

 spots shaped just like lozenges. 



