PLATE XXXIII
THE LAPPET (1 and 2)
When this moth first hatches out of the chrysalis it is really a very beautiful insect, for although the wings are reddish-brown all over, they have a kind of purple bloom on them, just like that on a ripe plum. But after a day or two this bloom always gets worn off. The moth is not at all an uncommon one, and yet one hardly ever sees it. The reason is that when it sits with its wings folded together over its back, as it almost always does, it is exactly like a dead leaf. You might look straight at it from only a few inches away, and never imagine for a moment that it was really a moth. And if it is hard to see the moth, it is still harder to see the caterpillar, which flattens itself against the branches of blackthorn bushes, and looks just like a piece of rather rough bark.
You may find this caterpillar—if you look for it very carefully indeed—in May and June. A little before midsummer it spins a long blackish cocoon, either among the leaves of its food-plant or amongst grass quite close to the ground, and changes to a smooth black chrysalis, out of which the moth appears early in July.
PLATE XXXIV
THE SWALLOW-TAILED MOTH (1 and 2)
You may often see this handsome moth flying about in the garden on warm evenings in July; and during the daytime you may sometimes shake it out of ivy, or out of the leaves of a thick bush, in which it has taken refuge from the unwelcome daylight. It is easy to see why it is called the “Swallow-tailed” Moth, for on the hind-wings are two little “tails,” very much like those of the “swallow-tailed butterfly.”
The caterpillar of this moth is one of those which we call “loopers,” because instead of walking as other caterpillars do, they hunch themselves up into a sort of loop at every step. And sometimes they are called “stick-caterpillars,” because their bodies are so like bits of twig that as long as they do not move it is very difficult indeed to see them.
If you shake the branches of a tree in summer-time you will generally see several of these caterpillars swinging in the air, each at the end of a silken thread; and if you want to find that of the Swallow-tailed Moth you should look for it on willow, and lime, and elder, and pear trees. When it is fully grown it spins a cocoon just like a little hammock, and turns to a light brown chrysalis spotted with black.