This moth is abundant almost everywhere, and may be looked for in the neighbourhood of heaths and woods early in the month of May.
The larva feeds on a large number of plants and trees, among which may be mentioned the willow (Salix alba), blackthorn (Prunus spinosa), elder (Sambucus nigra), whitethorn (Cratægus oxyacantha), bramble (Rubus fruticosus), heaths (Erica tetralix and E. cinerea), and the meadow-sweet (Spiræa ulmaria). Its colour is a lovely green; and each segment has several pink tubercles, each surrounded by a black ring, and giving rise to a tuft of short black hairs. The spiracles are orange.
In the autumn it spins a pear-shaped cocoon of silk, open at the small end ([fig. 28]).
It may here be mentioned in passing that, in the case of some of the larger moths of the few preceding families, the young entomologist is likely to meet with larvæ more frequently than the perfect insect. These moths, however, are mostly very hardy and easily reared; and a beginner cannot do better than endeavour to obtain either ova or larvæ, in order that he may be able to watch the different species through their various stages.
Family—Drepanulidæ
We now reach a family containing six small moths that differ in many important particulars from those we have just been considering. They are of such slender build that a beginner may easily mistake them for Geometers. Their wings, though small, are broad, and well proportioned to their bodies. In five cases out of the six the front wings are more or less hooked at the tips, and on this account the moths in question are called the Hook Tips.
The larvæ are not hairy, but they all have little fleshy projections on their backs. Their bodies also taper to a point behind, and the last pair of claspers are wanting, so that they have only fourteen walking appendages. When at rest they usually fix themselves by their claspers only, their pointed 'tails' being directed slightly upward, and all the front segments being also elevated. When about to change, they descend to the ground, and spin their cocoons among dead leaves.
Two only of this family can receive an individual notice.