The Magpie, or Currant Moth. 
587 
if Providence had not provided a check to their progress. 
One of the kinds of the ichneumon fly deposits her eggs 
within the caterpillar of this Butterfly, and they are there 
hatched. In their larva state they continue preying on 
the vitals of the animal ; they then pass to the pupa 
condition, and eventually emerge as perfect insects. So 
greatly are we indebted to this apparently contemp- 
tible little parasite, for keeping down the increase of an 
insect which would otherwise become a serious and 
alarming evil. 
THE MAGPIE, OR CURRANT MOTH. 
(Geometra, or Abraxas grossulariata.) 
The Caterpillar of this Moth is one of the kind called 
loopers, and is very destructive. The chrysalis is naked 
and shining ; and its colour is a bright yellow with black 
bands. The Moth is white, spotted with black, and hence 
its name of Magpie. 
The black and white caterpillar of this Moth is very 
destructive to currant and gooseberry bushes, and in 
some seasons particularly so. Mr. Kirby especially 
cites the devastations at Hull in the spring of 1814. He 
also confirms Boerhaave's assertion, that the severity of 
winter has no effect in destroying the larvae of those in- 
sects, as these abounded even more after a winter when 
Fahrenheit's thermometer stood at zero, than after a 
winter which was remarkably mild. 
