Biting little chips of wood from the bark of the tree, the caterpillar glues them together with this natural cement; and so builds an arched house for itself, much about the size and shape of half a walnut-shell. So strongly compacted is this residence, that rain and wind have no effect on it, and a penknife does not find an easy entrance.
One or two of these caterpillars which I brought home modified their dwellings in a curious manner. One of them nibbled to pieces a portion of a cardboard box, and so made a kind of papier-maché house; while others, who were placed under a glass tumbler, and upon a stone surface, simply made their house of the hardened gum. In this state, it appeared as if it had been made of thin horn, and was so transparent that the chrysalis could be seen through the walls.
The caterpillar is common enough, and may be found on the willow or poplar. And a sharp eye will soon learn to detect the winter house, which to an unpractised eye looks as if it were merely a natural excrescence on the bark.
If one of these habitations is found, the best mode of removing it is to avoid touching the dwelling itself, but to cut away the bark round it; and then, by inserting the point of a stout knife, gently raise up the house, together with the bark on which it is placed. This is one of the modes by which an entomologist may find employment even during the winter months, and others will be mentioned in the course of this work.
The moth itself may be seen figured on [plate B], fig. 4. It is called the Puss-moth, on account of the soft furry down with which its body is covered, and it is fancifully thought to resemble the fur of the cat.
It is rather a difficult moth to preserve effectually, as it is apt to become “greasy”—that is, to have its whole beauty destroyed by an oiliness that exudes from the body, and gradually creeps even over the wings. The best preservative is to remove the contents of the abdomen, and stuff it with cotton-wool that has been scented with spirits of turpentine. But even that plan is rather precarious, and the delicate, downy plumage is apt to be sadly damaged during the process of stuffing.
Still keeping to the same plate, and referring to the right-hand corner at the top, a moth of strange aspect will be seen; and immediately below it an object that somewhat resembles the hammock of the Tiger-moth, affixed in a perpendicular instead of an horizontal direction. This moth is called the Burnet-moth, and the hammock is the pupa case of the same insect.
The colouring of this moth is very rich and beautiful. The two upper wings are green, and of a tint so deep that, like green velvet, they almost appear to be black. On each of these wings are several red spots, varying in number according to the species; some wearing six spots, and others only five. The two under wings are of a carmine red, edged with a border of black, in which is a tinge of steely blue. The body is velvety black, with the same blue tint.
The moth is rather local; but when one is found in a field, hundreds will certainly be near.