Zeuzera Aesculi
(Wood Leopard Moth). A handsome Moth, with a spread of wings of from 2in. to 3in. The body is from 1 1/4in. to 1 1/2in. long, and is rather slender; and the wings are narrower than is usual in Moths. All the wings are semi-transparent white, with numerous spots (see Fig. 255), which are blue-black on the fore wings, and lighter on the hind wings. The thorax is white, with a row of three large, black spots on each side, and a smaller one behind. The abdomen is grey. The antennae are slender in the female, but in the male the basal half of each is like a double comb. The larva (see Fig. 256) is cylindrical, naked, yellowish-white, with raised, shining, black spots, a blackish plate on the front of the ring just behind the head, and a black patch on the last segment. It feeds in the wood of living trees--among the kinds attacked by it being Apple, Elm, Horse-Chestnut, Pear, Plum, and Poplar--but seldom does noteworthy injury to them; indeed, Newman observed that infected trees bore even more abundant fruit than perfectly healthy ones. Should remedies be required, the best are the removal (for firewood) of infested trunks, the capture of the Moths on the trees in early morning, and plastering the lower part of the trunk with a mixture of clay and cow's urine. Insecticides may be injected into holes made by the larvae, should such be found.