146 



THE BOOK OF THE ROSE 



CHAP. 



spin the leaves together, but trust to their colours and 

 attitudes for concealment. A dark brown one (JPhy- 

 galia) simulates the appearance of a dead stick, and 

 another, of a lighter brown with a yellow stripe, imitates 

 a dead leaf stalk. Their attitudes are stiff and 

 motionless, and it is astonishing how easily the searching 

 eye passes them over though they are comparatively 

 large caterpillars. When one is found the appearance 

 should be carefully noted that the eye may be trained 

 to detect another and not be again deceived, for though 

 not so common as the leaf- rollers one of these pests 

 will soon destroy a bud. 



The larva? of a good many other moths occasionally 

 feed on the Rose plants, and in certain districts some 

 may become locally special pests. The caterpillar of the 

 gold-tailed moth (Auriflua) sometimes called the palmer 

 worm, I have found occasionally devouring Eose leaves. 

 This is a beautiful and highly coloured caterpillar, with 

 bright tufts of hair : it feeds on the leaves of many 

 sorts of trees, but I have most commonly found it on 

 the hawthorn. 



The saw-flies (Tcnthredinidce) are so called from the 

 shape and nature of their ovipositors, the instruments 

 with which the females pierce the leaves or bark for the 

 insertion of their eggs. There are several genera and 

 species which feed on Eose plants, but I have found 

 it impossible, with these as with the moths, to name 

 them all. I am told by the Eev. J. H. Hocking, who 

 has most kindly assisted me in the identification of 

 insects, that there would be no room for Eoses in my 

 book if I were to attempt it. In my grounds there are 

 two special saw-flies (Selandria), very distinct in habit, 

 and perhaps including more than two species, which are 

 particularly troublesome, 



