1 36 
TRANSFORMATIONS OF INSECTS. 
shine ; in fact, they resemble them very much, and their tints 
are very vivid and pretty. The engraving shows one of the 
species of the Zerenidce (the Large Magpie) in the moth state 
and as a caterpillar. There are some moths closely allied to 
them — but which have stouter bodies and a great dislike of 
sunshine — whose caterpillars grow to a great size, and are very 
geometric in their method of walking. Phalcena betularia has 
a caterpillar which is of a green or brown colour, and is 
covered with little wart-like growths. It goes into the earth, 
makes an oval-shaped resting place, and is transformed into a 
chrysalis during the month of September. The moth flies in the 
month of May, or early in June in the following year, and some 
specimens measure nearly two inches across the wings. It is 
very remarkable that some of the female moths of this genus 
should, like some of the Bombycina, have only rudimentary wings, 
or organs of flight, that are not sufficiently strong to raise the 
body in the air. Some of these geometric moths fly in the 
winter time ; and Hybernia rupicapraria , or the Early Moth, 
may be caught on the 1st of January, and the Dotted Border 
may be seen on the hedges in February. The females of these 
have pigmy wings, and so have those of the Spring Usher, 
another of the same family. After March is passed no more 
of these moths are seen until the end of autumn, but when 
the leaves are falling fast, one of them, which is called the 
Mottled Umber, may be seen on the trunks of trees ; they 
have been found even as late as Christmas. The female of 
this moth is a long-legged, spider-like insect, without any wings 
at all. These are most interesting examples of retrograde meta- 
morphosis, so far as the females are concerned. 
Another division of the Lepidoptera , which contains a great 
number of species with very small individuals, is that of the 
Pyralidina. These insects are as remarkable for the pecu- 
liarities of their habits as for the diversity of their shapes. 
Although usually very small, they are quite as well ornamented 
as the larger moths, and certainly their instincts, habits, and 
metamorphoses are quite as interesting as those of the other 
Lepidoptera. It is rather difficult to separate this division from 
the Lepidoptera which have still to be noticed, and this part 
