IX 



PESTS 



145 



We shall now begin to find those larvae of moths 

 which are more generally called caterpillars. Most of 

 these belong to the group of loopers, or geometers, i.e. 

 earth measurers, so called because the middle of the 

 body, where there are no legs, is constantly being 

 raised in a loop as the creature progresses. 



Many of the geometers do not fasten the leaves 

 together, trusting to other means for concealment, but 

 the commonest of all, at least in my garden, does do 

 this. There are a great many species, but the 

 habits and general appearance are much alike. They 

 fasten the leaves together and hide between them ; 

 and feed on the leaves but always work towards 

 the top of the shoot and will attack the bud as soon as 

 it is formed. It will be noticed that the caterpillar, 

 if hatched as usual on the point of the growing shoot, 

 keeps hold by a silken thread of each leaf as it unfolds, 

 and thus is able at any time to leave its hiding place 

 for a new one in a leaf spray higher up, and thus 

 gradually to mount towards the bud. 



By this means it also sometimes escapes ; the dis- 

 tortion of the leaf spray it has just left is very 

 conspicuous, but its new abode is most cleverly con- 

 cealed, looking quite natural except that two leaves 

 happen to touch back to back. A novice on unrolling 

 the curled leaves would often come to the conclusion 

 that the insect had escaped or been taken by a bird, 

 but the experienced eye will always look upwards to 

 the next leaf spray, and the experienced finger will 

 always go there first, and not waste time on the decoy 

 beneath. These caterpillars are often very abundant from 

 the end of April to the beginning of June, and as they 

 grow very fast they cannot be looked for too frequently. 



Other geometer larvae do not hide themselves or 



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