Some fourteen or fifteen species of these curious creatures are found in England; and each of them bears so close a likeness to some other insect, that it is named accordingly. For example, the species which we are now examining is called the “gnat-like Egeria,” another is the “bee-like,” another the “hornet-like,” another the “ant-like,” and so on. Plate A, fig. 3.
The currant clear-wing may be found on the leaves of currant bushes, where it loves to rest. In 1856 I took a great number of them in one small garden, often finding two or more specimens on one currant bush.
Next come two beautiful examples of the Plume Moth, the White Plume and the Twenty Plume.
The first of these insects is very common on hedges or the skirts of copses, and comes out just about dusk, when it may be easily captured, its white wings making it very conspicuous. See Plate H, fig. 9.
The chief distinguishing point in the plume moth is that the wings are deeply cut from the point almost to the very base, and thus more resemble the wings of birds than those of insects.
In the white plume there are five of these rays or plumes, three belonging to the upper pair of wings and two to the lower.
From the peculiarly long and delicate down with which the body and wings are covered, it is no easy matter to secure the moth without damaging its aspect. The scissors-net is, perhaps, the best that can be used for their capture; for, as they always sit on leaves and grass with their wings extended, they are inclosed at once in a proper position, and cannot struggle. A sharp pinch in the thorax from the forceps, which a collector ought always to have with him, kills the creature instantly; for it holds life on very slender tenure. The slender entomological pin can then be passed through the thorax, while the net is still closed, and thus the head of the pin can be drawn through the meshes of the net when it is opened.
In this way the moth may be preserved without the least injury to its appearance, or without ruffling the vanes of one of its beautiful plumes.
Of all the plume moths this is the largest, as a fine specimen will sometimes measure more than an inch across the wings. There is a brown species, nearly as large, and quite as common; but which is often overlooked on account of its sober colouring; and as often mistaken for a common “daddy-long-legs,” to which fly it bears a close resemblance.