100 
ORANGE SWIFT. 
pure satiny wliite, having all die wings margined 
nitli yellow ; but die female is entu'ely of the latter 
colour, with various spots and strealis of deep brown 
on the anterior wings. The female is much less 
frequently observed on the wing than the opposite 
sex, and when the latter has discovered the place 
of her retreat, he hovers over it with a peculiar 
motion, not observable hi any other moth ; it is a 
very hregular kind of flight, consisting of alternate 
risings and fallhigs, accompanied with rapid zigzag 
movements from side to side, confined to a space 
not exceeding a few feet hi circumference. Tliis 
singular vacillating motion, restricted for a while to a 
limited spot, which it seems to haunt, together with 
its snow-white vestments and time of appearance, 
have no doubt been the cause of some fiuiciful ob- 
seiver denominating this creature the “ Ghost-moth.’’ 
It is found in all parts of the country, the caterpillar 
subsisting on the common Burdock, when its more 
favourite food the Hop is not to be obtained. All 
the species, when caterpillars, feed on the roots of 
plants. Previous to their change, they bury them- 
selves in the gi'ound, and construct an oval cell, the 
walls of which are composed of particles of earth 
and grains of sand, held together by an interlacement 
of silken threads. The female moth lays a great 
number of eggs, which are not for security aggluti- 
nated to some stable object, as among the greater 
number of Lepidoptera, but are ejected in rapid 
succession from the oviduct with a kind of elastic 
force wliich throws them to some distance. They 
