THE SILVER Y 91 



PLATE XLVII 



THE SILVER Y (3) 



This is a very common moth indeed, and if 

 you .walk through a field of clover or lucerne 

 in August or the early part of September, you 

 may sometimes kick it out of the herbage at 

 nearly every step that you take, until Silver Y 

 moths are buzzing about you almost like bees. 

 You can easily recognise it, for in the middle 

 of each of its front wings it has a mark shaped 

 something like the letter Y, and looking just as 

 if it were made of polished silver. And you 

 may also see the moth flying over flowers in 

 the evening, while after dark it often comes 

 into a lighted room. Indeed, one really wonders 

 whether Silver Y moths ever go to sleep at all ! 



The caterpillar of this moth is shaped very 

 much like that of the burnished brass, and walks 

 in just the same curious way. It is rather hairy, 

 and is bright apple-green in colour, with six 

 narrow white lines running along its back, and 

 a yellow stripe on either side. It feeds on all 

 kinds of garden herbs and low plants, and when 

 it is fully fed it spins a white cocoon among 

 the leaves, and turns into a shiny black chrysalis, 

 from which the moth generally hatches out about 

 three weeks later. 



