342 



CASSELL'S POPULAR GARDENING. 



more conveniently and safely to gnaw out and 

 devour the centres of buds and leaves. The cater- 

 pillar is small, about half an inch long, thick for 

 its length, has a black head, and a black plate near 

 its hairy tail, the colour of the body varying from 

 dullish green to yellow. It feeds all through May, 

 then spins itself a soft silky cocoon, and goes into 

 chrysalis, and comes finally forth as a butterfly in 

 July. It is a rich mixture of orange, brown, and 

 yellow, the upjaer wings being golden-yellow. As a 

 rule the eggs are not 

 hatched till the follow- 

 ing spring, although 

 sometimes they are said 

 to be hatched in the 

 early autumn. 



Another small Tor- 

 trix, or BeU Moth, a 

 good deal like this, 

 and equally destruc- 

 tive, is the Antithesia 

 ochroleucrma. Its habit 

 seems ahnost identical 

 with that of the 

 foregoing, with the 

 exception that it 

 neither spins a thread, 

 suspends itself from 

 the bough, nor seems 

 to have any power of 

 rising from the ground 

 after reaching it. It 

 is, however, one of the 

 most destructive of all 

 the worms in the buds, 

 not only piercing them 

 through and scooping 

 out their hearts, but 

 massing them into 



heaps for destruction; and should the buds resent 

 such close packing it cuts them off their stems, and 

 forces them into narrower compass for more con- 

 venient manipulation. These weU- filled larders are, 

 however, rather conspicuous, and if Rosarians are 

 wide awake, as they mostly are, in vain will such 

 nets be set in their sight, and these presumptuous 

 grasping grubs wiU meet their reward — destruction 

 for themselves and their bud traps. 



Another, and fortunately far more conspicuous 

 grub, is the caterpillar of the Noctua Fsi (Fig. 51). 

 This is much larger, of a dark, almost black, ground- 

 colour, and richly variegated with a light or yellow 

 bar down each side, and a long hirsute embellish- 

 ment, so that it is readily found and destroyed. The 

 name of this insect suggests nocturnes, not the phase 

 of art now so fashionable, but the habit of not a few 



Fig. 51. — Noctua Psi and Larva. 



of these grubs, that of feeding most ravenously by 

 night, and one must time visits accordingly to suc- 

 ceed in catching them in quantity. 



Among other caterpillars that make havoc among 

 our Roses are those of the Gold-tailed Moth, Liparis 

 aureflua, popularly known as the Palmer "Worm. 

 These, however, as several others that ought to be 

 named here, by no means confine themselves to Rose- 

 diet. The Palmer Worm is frequently found on 

 Rose-leaves, and also in the buds, and proves very de- 

 structive in some parts 

 of the country. 



The Winter Moth, 

 Hybernia brnmata, fa- 

 vours fruit-trees more 

 than Roses. It, how- 

 ever, proves- very 

 troublesome at times, 

 and as the chrysalis 

 buries itself in the 

 ground, it must be 

 dealt with somewhat 

 after the manner re- 

 commended for the 

 destruction of Apple 

 insects. 



The caterpillar of the 

 Buff -tip, Pygaesa biice- 

 phaJa, is among the 

 largest with which the 

 Rosarian has to wage 

 war, measuring 

 often two and a half 

 inches in length, with 

 an area in proportion. 



The Gothic Moth 

 caterpillar, Naenia ty- 

 pica, is also met with 

 occasionally, and when 

 found on the Rose, is said to be very destructive in 

 some localities. The caterpillars of the Gothic and 

 the Gold-tailed Moth sleep through the winter in 

 that state, so that they are ready to come forth on 

 their work of destruction so soon as a few warm days 

 foster them into life, in the early spring. 



Only two more caterpillars can be noticed here 

 — those of the Jack Moth, Bombyx neustrea, and 

 those of the Vapourer Moth. {Orgyria) antiqua 



(Fig. 52). The first, though by no means specially a 

 Rose insect, works sad havoc among Roses when it 

 once settles among the leaves or buds, for it seems as 

 partial to the petals of the half- open bloom as to the 

 leaves. The caterpillars are large and gregarious, all 

 helping to spin a general house over the community, 

 from whence they issue forth at feeding-times with a 

 destructive force that carries most of the leaves and 



