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PLATE XCV.

The Caterpillar of the Ph . Neustria are found in June,, either oilthe white-thorn, black-thorn, or briar; sometimes on fru,it trees : theypass to the Chrysalis state in July, and the Moths appear in August.

The female deposits her eggs with such particular care and regu- :larity, that a cluster of them forms one of the most pleasing objects for Imicroscopical investigation ; they are crustaceous, of a light grey ofbluilh colour, elegantly marked at the broadest end; they are-disposed jwith the greatest lymmetry around the small branches of the thorn, and ;are lo cemented together that they cannot readily be separated,.—Theappearance of a cluster is represented in our plate.

The eggs are laid in autumn, though they are not hatched till theensuing spring. When the young Caterpillars bu-rst forth, they forminto societies, sometimes of thirty or forty individuals, sometimes of *much greater number; they immediately commence the formation ofa spacious web, and if the weather be fine in two or three days, theifwork is completed ; as however they encreafe in bulk, it is necessaryto enlarge their dwelling, and this they manage either by adding ne'*external coverings, or errereasing and extending the windings withnnThey seldom pals to. the Pupa form in those nests, but separate in searchof a more convenient place for that purpose when they have attainedtheir full size.

The Caterpillar , when preparing for its next state, weaves a largesilky cafe ; within which it forms another somewhat smaller; and th« Senveloped by its double cone, it changes to the Pupa form.. ThePupa is black, and may be just discerned through the two cases, as re-presented in our plate.

The figure of the perfect Insect is copied from a female specimen» ,the male is rather darker, and has the Antenna: more feathered.

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