Dec. 1895.] 



INJURIOUS INSECTS AND FUNGI. 



313 



Casual observers often confound the attacks of these cater- 

 pillars upon gooseberry and currant bushes with those of the 

 larvse of the gooseberry and currant sawfly, Nematus rihesii, but 

 they are essentially distinct. In the first place, the attack of the 

 Abraxas caterpillar is not nearly so serious as that of the sawfly 

 larva, and the insects differ materially in every stage. In the 



1, Moth ; 2, Caterpillar ; 3, Cocoon. All natural size. 



winged state there are no points of resemblance, and in the larval 

 condition the Abraxas caterpillars are different in size, colour, 

 and shape, from the grubs of the sawfly. Their habits also are 

 totally distinct. In the former case, the caterpillars live through 

 the winter in the larval state, and are ready to attack the fruit 

 bushes directly there is a vestige of green upon them. In the 

 case of the sawfly grubs, they are hatched from eggs laid by the 

 female flies upon leaves in the spring, and do not, therefore, 

 appear upon the scene until vegetation is far advanced. 



It is very fortunate that the Magpie Moth is not nearly so 

 abundant as the sawfly, and when it gets a footing in fruit 

 plantations and gardens it is most important that active steps 

 should at once be taken to arrest its progress. In 18-76, 1881, 

 1885, it was unusually prevalent, and in the season of 1895 

 many complaints were received of harm caused by it to gooseberry 

 and blackcurrant bushes. 



Description and Life History. 



The moth, Abraxas grossulariata, belonging to the Geometri- 

 doe, is a very pretty insect, nearly an inch and three quarters 

 across the wings, and over an inch long in the body. It varies 

 greatly in colouring, but the typical moth has a yellowish body 

 with a black spot on the thorax and a row of six black spots 

 along its back. The fore wings have a white ground with many 

 black spots dotted irregularly upon them, with yellow blotches 

 at their bases, and an orange coloured band beyond the middle. 

 In some specimens the black spots on the fore wings are almost 

 confluent, while in others they are few and far between. The 

 hinder wings are white with black spots round the margins, and 

 other black spots placed irregularly upon them. The head is 

 black with short antennae. 



