No written description is necessary in this case, the illustration easily serving for identification. This beautiful moth flies in May and June, and is common everywhere.
The caterpillar is a very interesting creature. It is green, with a hump on the fourth segment, and a patch of brown from the fourth segment to the tail. This patch is very wide on the eighth segment, but tapers to a point on the thirteenth. The two horns are rather long and rough, and from each of them a very slender pink filament is protruded when the caterpillar is irritated.
It constructs a cocoon very similar to that of Bifida, though of course larger, on the bark of the tree on which it fed, generally three or four feet from the ground. It feeds on sallows, willows, and poplars, and may be found during July and August.
Family—Notodontidæ
The Coxcomb Prominent (Lophopteryx camelina)
The family Notodontidæ contains several moths of somewhat varied appearance, but foremost among them are the 'Prominents,' distinguished by a conspicuous projection on the inner margin of the fore wings.
Our example of this group is the Coxcomb Prominent.
Its fore wings are brown, with darker markings arranged as shown in the illustration; and the hind margins are scalloped. The hind wings are much paler, with a dark brown patch in the anal angle.
The caterpillar is green, with a yellowish line on each side. The spiracles are black, and there are two small humps on the