PLATE XXVI
THE GOAT MOTH (1 and 2)
Somehow or other, one does not very often see this moth, although it is quite common in almost all parts of the country. But just now and then it flies through an open window into a well-lighted room at night, and then it looks so big as it goes blundering about that one might almost mistake it for a bat.
Nearly everybody sometimes sees the caterpillar, however—a great flesh-coloured creature three or four inches long, with a black head, and a broad band of chocolate-brown running all the way along its back. Like that of the wood leopard, it feeds in the trunks of trees, in which it lives for three whole years; and out from its burrow a dark brown liquid comes oozing, which smells something like the odour of a he-goat. That is why the insect is called the “Goat” Moth. When this caterpillar is fully grown it leaves its burrow, and goes crawling about in search of a convenient place in which to spin its cocoon; and this is the time when one generally sees it. The moth appears in June and July, and you should look for the caterpillar in September.
PLATE XXVII
THE WOOD LEOPARD (1)
This is not a very common moth, but it seems rather more plentiful than it used to be, more especially near London. You may sometimes see it resting on the trunks of trees in July and August. Then, if you examine the tree-trunk carefully, you are almost sure to find the entrance to the burrow out of which it came; for the caterpillar of this moth is one of those which feed on the solid wood of trees. The female moth lays her eggs in the crevices of the bark, and as soon as the little caterpillars appear they nibble their way into the trunk with their powerful jaws, and there live for several months, burrowing backwards and forwards, day after day, till sometimes the wood is almost honeycombed with their tunnels. Sometimes they live in oak trees, sometimes in elms, sometimes in beeches, or ashes, or willows. But the wood that they like most of all is that of apple and plum and pear trees; so that the very best place to look for the moth is in an orchard.
If you ever find a Wood Leopard you will notice that its wings are partly transparent. That is because they have fewer scales upon them than those of most moths, so that they look rather as if they had been rubbed.
