THE CURRANT-MOTH, Abraxas? Ribearia. 
BY ASA FITCH M. D. 
The gooseberry and currant bushes cultivated in the gardens of 
Europe, are known to be subject to the attacks of several insect 
depredators. Among the more conspicuous of these, are the larvae 
of several species of moths, which subsist upon the leaves of these 
shrubs. Some are confined almost exclusively to the currant and 
gooseberry, or to plants of the genus Ribes. Such^re the Abraxas 
Grossulariata, Linn., the Halia vauaria, Linn.; the Eledra Spinach- 
iata, Haw. &c. Whilst others feed indiscriminately upon these and 
several other vegetables. 
The Abraxas Grossulariata, or “ Gooseberry-moth,” as it is com¬ 
monly designated, is so very abundant in several European coun¬ 
tries, that it has long been noted for the depredations which it com¬ 
mits. A history of this species, from the able pen of Mr. Curtis, is 
given in the Gardener’s Chronicle, vol. i. page 515, which, to my 
regret, I have never been able to meet with. From other sources 
we learn that the Gooseberry-moth hatches from the egg in autumn, 
the young larvae lives through the winter without eating, and is in 
readiness to attack the tender leaves of the gooseberry and currant 
when they first put forth in the spring. When fully grown, it is 
nearly an inch and a half in length, of a white color, the back with 
numerous black spots of various sizes, and low on the sides yellow 
sprinkled with black dots. The moth that is produced from these 
worms, measures nearly two inches across the wings, has a yellow 
body with rows of black spots, and white wings, the upper pair with 
two yellow and six interrupted black bands. 
We have in Eastern New York a moth which will rank as the 
compeer of the European species in destructiveness, though varying 
from it somewhat in its habits, and in the characters which it pre¬ 
sents, both in its larva and its perfect state. These characters suffi¬ 
ciently indicate that it is an insect different from all those that have 
heen hitherto described by authors. 
