Pionea Forficalis
(Garden Pebble Moth). An insect living, in the larval state, on the leaves of Cabbages and Horse-radish, as well as on Hedge Mustard and other uncultivated Cruciferae. The moth is common throughout the country. It is a little over 1in. in spread of wings. The front wings are rather pointed at the tip, and in colour are dull straw-yellow, shaded with pale brown; a brown line runs from the tip to the middle of the inner margin, and another nearly parallel to it, but paler brown, crosses the middle of the wing, widening towards the front margin into a dark, ill-defined spot. There are also one or two other less distinct lines, running in the same general directions with these. The body is pale, shining straw-yellow in colour, as are also the hind wings, which have a brown marginal line, and a brown line running parallel with it. The larva has six true legs and ten prolegs; it is yellowish-green, with a darker green line down the middle of the back, and one along each side, bordered above with a white line. The head is brown. There are usually two broods in the year. Some moths emerge in May. They lay eggs, and from these emerge larvae, which feed on the plants named above, usually between the leaves, under protection of a thin web of threads. They turn, in the soil, into pupae, from which moths emerge about August. These produce a new brood of larvae, which feed up in autumn, to become moths in the following May. The damage done by the moths is seldom serious, though the larvae are troublesome in often being boiled between the leaves of Cabbages and served at table. The only practicable remedies are picking off the larvae and catching and killing the moths.