Dot Moth. 



and a-half to an inch and three-quarters in size. The front wings 

 are blackish, with a dull purplish gloss when fresh ; there are 

 rusty brown marks, and also small pale spots at the tip and 

 hindmost edge. These spots may, however, be indistinct, and 

 a large white kidney-shaped dot may be very pronounced. The 

 hind wings are dusky grey, shading into dull whitish at the 

 base. The moths fly at night, and deposit their eggs upon the 

 food plants, as many as thirty being laid by each female. 



The larvae appear from the beginning of July until the latter 

 part of August, those hatched latest not maturing until the 

 end of September. When full grown they are about an inch 

 and a-half long. Some have been found as late as the middle 

 of October. The larva varies in colour from deep green to 

 pale green or grey, or even reddish-grey, the colour being 

 apparently influenced by the food plant. Owing to this 

 variation of colour they are often very difficult to detect when 

 feeding. The caterpillars have a pale dorsal line, and some 

 darker marks along the back ; there are five dark oblique 

 bands below ; the head is green, and the thoracic shield has two 

 dark green or brown patches. The colour seems to vary not 

 only with the plant, but with the part of the plant attacked, 

 and Buckle figures four larvae on Pteris aquilina, green 

 caterpillars being on green parts, and brown on the brown 

 parts. 



When full grown the larva falls to the ground and changes 

 into a brown pupa in the earth, remaining in that condition 

 until the following summer. 



The best remedy in gardens is hand-picking. Where the 

 caterpillars appear in large numbers on gooseberry and fruit 

 bushes, it would be best to spray with some arsenical wash. 

 It is said that if they are shaken off the plants, and drenched 

 when on the ground with cold water (especially in hot weather), 

 violent purging is caused and the caterpillars are reduced to 

 mere skins (Ormerod). 



Gardens that have been attacked by the Dot moth should 

 be lightly forked over so as to expose the pupae to the attacks 

 of birds. It would be worth while to let ducks, or in an orchard 

 fowls, run over the infested ground : both ducks and fowls 

 devour the pupae greedily. 



