Codling moth

“ It is enclosed in a long, grey-brown, tight-fitting cocoon of silk and hairs of the caterpillar, which is generally spun up among the lower twigs, or to the stem of the food plant.
The moth emerges in June or July, and is on the wing at night, when it may be sometimes netted as it flies along or over hedgerows. When caught in this way it dashes about so wildly in the net that it is rarely of much value for the collection. The same may be said of examples taken by light, which at times attracts the moths freely. ”

“ It is incomplete in the sense that the change is not of a very radical nature. But in the case of the silk worm moths, and moths and butterflies in general, the larva which hatches from the eggs has not even the most superficial resemblance to the adult insect, the fully-developed moth. This necessitates a complete change or metamorphosis in the form and structure of the insect before it can become mature. This great change is accomplished during the quiet pupal stage in the cocoon. ”

“ Of course you know this pretty insect very well indeed by sight, for it is one of the commonest of all our British moths. You cannot possibly mistake it for any other, because of its snowy white wings and the thick tuft of long yellow hairs at the end of its body, from which it gets its name of “Gold-tail.” In the female moth this tuft is very long and thick indeed, and she puts it to a most curious purpose. For when she has laid her eggs she strips off the golden down from her tail and covers them carefully over with it, leaving the tip of her body almost bare! ”

“ The large female moths of the Samia cynthia, or Japanese silk-worm, are seized for the eggs which they contain, torn to pieces, and the eggs devoured. So persistent are the sparrows in watching for and catching these moths, that a gentlemen in this city has been unable to raise either worms or moths unless protected from the birds.
"The moths, both male and female, of the inch-worm or tree-caterpillar, are eaten by sparrows. After seizing the moth, they will beat off its head and wings and feed to their young the soft parts of the insect. ”

“ Instead of a naked pupa, that of the moth is inclosed in some sort of envelope called a "cocoon." This may be an earthen cell underground, or a woolly tuft fastened to some such support as the bark of a tree, or a leaf rolled and tied by silken threads into a tube, or a burrow in dead wood, or a paperlike case fastened to a twig; but in every case some special provision is made for the easy emergence of the imago when the time comes for its birth as a moth. The moths themselves do no harm. ”

“ When the moth is ready to emerge it ejects upon the wall of the cocoon a fluid which acts as a solvent on the gummy substance holding the filaments of silk together, and then gradually makes its way out, pushing the filaments aside without breaking a single one. The moths, male and female, are unable to fly, their bodies being out of all proportion to the size of their wings. They can walk but slowly, and they are nearly blind. ”

“ Just as the twilight of a summer evening is deepening into darkness, and a soft, warm wind stirs the foliage of the woods, the ghost moth comes abroad. The observer sees a fitful apparition which suddenly vanishes into space. First a large insect with long wings is seen advancing, it comes straight on, then flutters in the air—and is gone. Whilst endeavouring to discover the mysterious retreat of the moth, it will suddenly reappear, and even whilst the eye closely follows its flight, will again vanish. This effect is produced by the different colour of the wings on their upper and lower sides. ”

“ Palings, especially old ones and those enclosing wooded parks, etc., are often frequented by numbers of moths. These should be examined as early as possible in the morning, although a later looking over may not be unprofitable. When, however, the wind is dead on them, or where they stand exposed to full sunshine, few insects will be found upon them. Various species are to be obtained from open post and rail fences, and even iron hurdles sometimes yield a good moth or two. ”

“ When full-grown they descend to the ground and construct, on the under-side of fallen leaves, loose cocoons of silk and earth from which the perfect insects emerge in about a month's time. The autumnal larvæ, however, either hibernate or remain in the pupa state throughout the winter. This moth is even more variable than the last species (S. dejectaria) , which it occasionally somewhat resembles. The sexes are very different, the colouring of the male consisting of various shades of warm brown (Fig. 7) , while in the female the prevailing hue is slaty brown or even grey (Fig. 7a) . ”

“ As may be seen, the newly emerged moth is resting upon the silken cocoon in which it spent its period as a pupa or chrysalis. This cocoon was attached by the caterpillar to the twig from which it hangs at the time it spun the cocoon. The feathered antennae, the hairy legs, the thick thorax, and large abdomen—all show very clearly in this side view of the moth. As will be seen, the wings are large and very suggestive of those of a butterfly and have the characteristic eye-spots toward the tip and the crescent marks in the middle, which are so often found on the wings of the larger moths. ”

“ A moth with broken antennae seems dazed and helpless, and in great distress.
I have learned by experience in handling moths, that when I induce one to climb upon bark, branch, or flower for a study, they seldom place their wings as I want them. Often it takes long and patient coaxing, and they are sensitive to touch. If I try to force a fore-wing with my fingers to secure a wider sweep, so that the markings of the back wings show, the moths resent it by closing them closer than before, climbing to a different location or often taking flight. ”

“ No doubt you will think that this is rather an odd name to give to a moth, but it is a very suitable one, for the wings of this insect really do look very much as if they had been first covered with salt, and then sprinkled thickly with black pepper. But it varies a good deal in its markings, for sometimes the wings look as if they were nearly all salt, and sometimes they look as if they were nearly all pepper. And if the moth is caught in the north of England or in Scotland, strange to say, it is nearly always much darker than when it is caught in the south. ”

“ In this corpse-like state it remains for a fortnight or three weeks. Then it bursts its cerements and comes forth furnished with wings, antennæ and feet for living in its new element—the atmosphere. The female moth flutters its wings, but rarely uses them for flight, but the male employs his for seeking a partner. As the moth is not furnished with teeth, it perforates its tomb by knocking with its head against the end of the cocoon, after moistening it with saliva, and thus rendering the filaments more easily torn asunder by its claws. ”

“ A lifeless moth fades rapidly under the most favourable conditions. A moth at eight days of age, in the last stages of decline, is from four to six distinct shades lighter in colour than at six hours from the cocoon, when it is dry, and ready for flight. As soon as circulation stops, and the life juices evaporate from the wings and body, the colour grows many shades paler. If exposed to light, moths soon fade almost beyond recognition. ”

“ If we gather a few of these buds and place them in a small box, we may observe [170] the remaining life history of the insect. After creeping from its petal home it immediately spins a delicate white silken cocoon, and within a day or so changes to a chrysalis. At the expiration of about a fortnight, as we open the box, we are apt to liberate one or more tiny gray moths, which upon examination we are bound to confess are a poor recompense for the blossom for which they are the substitute.
This little moth is shown very much enlarged in the accompanying illustration. ”

“ Even cocoons sealed up in shellac and starch have been dissolved by this fluid, and thus the moths have been able to escape. When the cocoon has become sufficiently soft, the moth pushes its way between the fibres, but in doing so often breaks some of the threads, thus making the silk of such cocoons useless for commercial purposes. The moth at the time of emergence, with its folded and crumpled wings, is quite a forlorn-looking object. ”

“ No wonder we rarely see either moth, caterpillar, or cocoon. The larva dwells in the higher trees, rolls himself in leaves in the autumn, and spends the winter on the ground, usually covered out of sight by the other leaves. Then the moth, wary and swift, flies only by night.
The Actias luna, the beautiful, long-tailed, green luna moth, is, I think, better known, for it has a way of flitting about woodland glades in late June or July, before nightfall. But in the caterpillar or the cocoon it is as hard to find as the polyphemus, and for similar reasons. ”

“ I can only mention that, although during thirty years' pursuit of bugs and moths he had lived almost constantly in the woods, the Scientist had never before encountered a wood-nymph or dreamed of one. To meet two at a first encounter was naturally somewhat embarrassing.
He took a safe moment to look again at the elder of the two. She was big and gentle, and the hair on her low forehead was of the softest brown. It occurred to the Scientist that one might like to touch it. His second thought was that it was the color of the moth he had come to find. ”

“ In twenty-five years’ experience he had never seen the perfect insect, but knew it well to be a moth called Oinophila-v-flava. This creature finds its way into dry cellars and lays its eggs in the corks of bottles which are unprotected by wax or leaden capsules. A small white grub with a brown head is hatched from the egg, and bores a tunnel through the cork, just so far as to reach the saccharine in it, on which the creature feeds. When it has attained its full size it spins a silken case and turns into a chrysalis, from which the moth emerges in April and May. ”

“ Thus it is that a lovely white moth flits often in the veriest gray of dawn just to the eastward of where I lie. It always seems as if he were a condensation out of the white mists that are born in that darkest hour when the night winds cease and that runic rhyme of the pines is lulled for a time. He seems as transparent as they and is nothing but the ghost of a moth as he passes from one head of goldenrod bloom to another. Some mornings he vanishes in the amber glow that ushers in the daylight and then I think I have merely been dreaming of lepidoptera. ”

“ Hybernating moths may also be met with, on the wing if the weather is mild, or sleeping in their sheltered nooks during the frosts. These include several Noctuæ—Auricoma, Lithargyria, Suffusa, Vaccinii, Spadicea, Erythrocephala, Satellitia, Rubiginea, Croceago, Vetusta, Exoleta, Ornithopus, Furcifera, Semibrunnea, Socia, and Libatrix; and also a few Geometræ—Zonaria, Fluviata, Dubitata, Siterata, and Miata.
In addition to these hybernating insects, the collector may examine tree trunks and fences for the Early Moth (Rupicapraria) , and late specimens of the Winter Moth (Brumata) ”

“ They are the larvæ of Phryganeas—this of a true moth. {158} The male of this moth will come out, as a moth should, and fly about on four handsome wings. The female will never develop her wings, but remain to her life’s end a crawling grub, like the female of our own Vapourer moth, and that of our English Glow-worm. But more, she will never (at least, in some species of this family) leave her silk and bark case, but live and die, an anchoritess in narrow cell, leaving behind her more than one puzzle for physiologists. ”

“ Away from any town, bats are frequently amongst the evening visitors on the look-out to secure part of the arriving insects, especially those having plump bodies.
Many of the moths, to the disappointment of the collector, have their wings singed or damaged. Others enter the lamp and avoid the flame, settling down quietly upon the glass, and others again stop outside upon the glass or the ironwork. During the twilight the slim moths, or Geometers, arrive, with now and then a large moth; towards ten o'clock the Noctuas, or stout-bodied moths, begin to appear. ”

“ The moths are out in April and May, and the males may be seen on sunny days flying at a great pace over heaths, moorlands, and mosses, also about the borders of woods. The female flies at night, but it may occasionally be met with resting on heather or other herbage in the daytime. A freshly emerged female moth will, as a rule, attract as many specimens of the opposite sex as one would care to take; all that one has to do is to take her in a box to some likely spot, and there await the coming of the males. ”

“ The cilia of all the wings are bluish-grey, barred with dusky black. The perfect insect appears in January and February, and frequents bare rocky situations on the mountains, at elevations of from 4,000 to 5,000 feet. On one occasion I met with this species very plentifully, though in poor condition, on Mount Peel, near Mount Arthur; but subsequent visits have led me to think that, as a rule, it is rather a scarce species. The bluish-grey colouring of the fore-wings affords this moth a most efficient protection from enemies, whilst resting on the rocky ground which it always frequents. ”

“ It is, however, the work of an insect, and not of man, and is magnified in order to show its structure better.
Any of my readers who may happen to be entomologists or anglers, or both, are familiar with the Caddis-worm of our fresh waters. Most of us know that the Caddis is the grub or larva of the Stone-fly (Phryganea) , an insect haunting the waterside, and so moth-like in its general aspect that many persons think that it is really a brown moth. The changes or metamorphoses of these insects are well worthy of notice. ”