
LEPIDOPTERA. 275 
‘hen at rest, its wings are folded back one over the other like 
a roof. Its flight is of short duration, contenting itself with 
| going from one vine stock to another. 
| It is at sunset mostly that you see the moths of the pyralis 
fluttering about. They remain quiet during the day, particularly 
| 
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Fig. 287.—The Vine Pyralis. Fig. 288.—Caterpillar of the Vine 
Pyralis. 
when the sun is at its hottest. They live on an average for ten 
days. The females lay their eggs—which are at first green, then 
yellowish, then brown—on the lower surface of the leaves. 
The caterpillar of the pyralis (Fig. 288) is called in vulgar 
parlance, according to the different places it is met with, vine 
worm, summer worm, vintage worm, shell. In the south of France 
itis called in the patois of Languedoc, babota. Almost immediately 
after they leave the eggs, the little caterpillars hide themselves in 
the fissures of the vine stocks or the props which support them. 
‘They spin for themselves a small 
lrocoon of a greyish silk, in which 
hey rémain curled up till the month 
pf May. From the moment the leaves 
yeein to develop they throw out threads, 
vere and there, entangling all the Fig. 239.—Chrysalis of the Vine Pyralis, 
roung shoots of the vine, which gives a desolate appearance to 
he vineyards. The leaves of the vine are their favourite food, 
mut they attack the seeds of the grape also. It is said that in 
| ies 

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