1. Swallow-tail Moth2. Swallow-tail Caterpillar
3. Emperor 4. Emperor Caterpillar
PLATE XXXIV
THE EMPEROR (3 and 4)
This is one of the handsomest of all our British moths, and the caterpillar is even more beautiful than the moth. For it is of the brightest apple-green colour, with ten or eleven velvety-black rings round its body; and every ring has a number of raised pink spots upon it, with six black bristles springing from each spot, and spreading outwards in the form of a star. You may often find it on bramble-leaves early in September, and it also feeds on blackthorn, willow, and heath.
When this lovely caterpillar has reached its full size, it spins a most curious cocoon, shaped something like a little flask, with a number of bristles inside the entrance arranged in such a way, that while the moth can crawl out quite easily when it is ready to hatch, none of its enemies can crawl in. In this cocoon the chrysalis lies all through the winter, and the moth makes its appearance in April, when you may often see it flying about in the sunshine on heaths and commons. The male is rather smaller than the female, and you can always recognise him by his brighter colouring, and his beautifully plumed feelers.
PLATE XXXV
THE BRIMSTONE MOTH (1)
There is a Brimstone Moth, just as there is a “brimstone butterfly,” and you may find it very commonly indeed in almost any part of the country, and at almost any time from April until October, or even November. During the daytime it generally hides away among the leaves of ivy, or of some thick bush, like the “swallow-tailed moth.” But you may sometimes see it resting on a fence, or on the trunk of a tree; and after dark it often comes flying into a lighted room through an open window. The caterpillar feeds on hawthorn, and blackthorn, and apple, and sometimes on bramble. It is pale brown in colour, with a bluish spot on each side of its neck, and with three little humps on its back, just like the tiny leaf-buds on a bit of twig. So although it is so common you will not find it unless you look very carefully indeed, and even the sharp eyes of the insect-eating birds often pass it by. As soon as it reaches its full size it spins a thick silken cocoon and turns into a brown chrysalis, out of which the moth appears two or three weeks later.