Butterflies and Moths Part 48

_Crambi_

The third group of the 'Micros' is the _Crambi_, and contains about eighty species, arranged in four families.

Some of them are common moths with which all must be more or less familiar, as they are roused from the gra.s.ses on which they repose at almost every footstep as we walk through meadows in the summer. When at rest, they present a very peculiar appearance. Their wings are wrapped closely round their bodies in such a manner that they are hardly distinguishable from the stems on which they repose.

The larvae have sixteen limbs, and are very variable in their habits.

Some feed among moss or dry stems in silken tubes, some on the stems of reeds, and others inhabit the hives of bees and feed on the wax of the honeycomb.

The four families are:

1. _Chilidae_--five species.

2. _Crambidae_--about thirty species.

3. _Phycidae_--over forty species.

4. _Galleridae_--five species.

_Chilo Phragmitellus_

This species is one of those moths known as the 'Veneers,' and is popularly termed the Wainscot Veneer. It is one of the largest of the family _Chilidae_.

Its fore wings are long, narrow, and pointed at the tip. They are of a pale ochreous brown colour, with a row of small black dots along the hind margin.

The caterpillar is pale grey, with brown stripes; and the head and second segment are yellowish brown. It feeds on the common reed (_Phragmites_) in the autumn, and hybernates till the following spring, when it resumes its feeding.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 219.--PHRAGMITELLUS--ENLARGED ONE-HALF.]

This insect is rather local, but may be searched for in all marshy places where reeds abound.

_Crambus hamellus_

The family _Crambidae_ is represented by the above-named species, which has the popular t.i.tle of Pearl-streak Veneer. It is not a common moth, but is to be obtained in some localities by beating low herbage.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 220.--HAMELLUS--SLIGHTLY ENLARGED.]

Its fore wings are ochreous and glossy, with a silvery streak from the base, running almost parallel with the costal margin. The hind margin is yellow, bordered inside by a wavy brown line. The hind wings are pale greyish brown with a yellowish margin.

_Crambus tristellus_

The same family contains the species _Tristellus_, which, unlike the preceding insect, is abundant everywhere.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 221.--TRISTELLUS.]

Its fore wings are generally yellowish brown, but exceedingly variable.

A pale streak runs from the base to just beyond the middle of the wing, and is then forked. Near the hind margin is a very indistinct brown wavy line. The hind wings are dull smoke colour with a light fringe. As with the other moths of the family, its l.a.b.i.al palpi are very long.

The moth flies from July to September.

_Crambus hortuellus_

This is also an abundant species, to be met with everywhere during June and July.

Its fore wings are dull ochreous brown. The wing rays are whitish near the inner margin, and a brown line with a silvery edging crosses near the hind margin. The hind wings are dull smoky brown, with a s.h.i.+ning surface, and the fringe is light.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 222.--HORTUELLUS.]

The larva is pale grey with dark grey spots, and may be found among moss in April and May.

_Galleria mellonella_

Our last example of the _Crambi_ is a moth that the young entomologist is not likely to meet with unless he happens to be in the neighbourhood of one of its haunts, but its habits are so peculiar that we are tempted to introduce it on that account.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 223.--MELLONELLA.]

It belongs to the family _Galleridae_, the larvae of which feed on the wax combs in the hives of bees and in the nests of wild bees. They are protected from the stings of the inmates by silken tubes which they construct, and by the hardened covering of their heads and front segments--the only parts that remain exposed while they are feeding.

The fore wings of the moth are reddish-grey or brownish, sometimes with a greenish tinge, and yellowish along the inner margin. The hind wings are greyish brown.

It flies in July and August, and the caterpillar feeds in May and June.

_The Tortrices_

This is a large group of moths, deriving their name from the peculiar habit of a number of the larvae of twisting or rolling up leaves for their protection. This habit, however, is not common to all, for some feed on stems and flowers, and others devour seeds and fruits.

The perfect insects may easily be known by the shape of the wings. The fore pair are gracefully curved on the costal margin in such a way that, when the insect is at rest with its wings closed, its outline is much the shape of a bell.

The identification of the various species of this extensive group is no easy task, for many of them are so variable in their colouring that insects of the same species are often very different from each other.

So puzzling indeed is this tendency to run into varieties that many insects, once considered to belong to separate species, have been reduced to one; and this has been the case in a number of instances.

There are so many of these little moths that we cannot even give a representative of each family, but the following outline will serve to show the extensiveness of the group.

Family 1. _Tortricidae_, about sixty species.

" 2. _Penthinidae_, " twenty "

" 3. _Spilonotidae_, " twelve "

" 4. _Sericoridae_, " twenty-seven species.

" 5. _Sciaphilidae_, " twenty-four "

" 6. _Grapholithidae_, about one hundred and fifty species.

" 7. _Pyraloididae_, four species.

" 8. _Conchylidae_, about fifty species.

" 9. _Apheliidae_, three species.