86 EPPING FOREST
warm beams of a May-day sun. The last-mentioned
caterpillar merits its popular name from its habit
of drinking up drops of dew, which it does with
evident gusto, lifting its head to swallow each
mouthful with an action ridiculously like that of a
hen similarly engaged. A careful examination of
the blackthorn bushes may reward the searcher
with the sight of the giant caterpillar of the Lappet
Moth (Gastropacha quercifolia), but a sharp eye
is needed for its detection, so perfectly does it
harmonise with the branch or stem to which it
closely clings. It affords a remarkable instance of
the value of " protective resemblance " to so large
a creature.
The great group of the Noctua? can receive but
a passing notice—the species are legion, but their
sober colours and usually nocturnal habits conceal
them from the ken of the ordinary visitor. A few,
such as the handsome Red Underwing (Catocala
nupta), occasionally fly by day, and the latter is
often mistaken for a butterfly, so brilliant is its
appearance when the sunshine gleams upon its
wings as the moth dashes across a wood opening.
The Red Underwing is very common in Lodge
Bushes, and other parts of the district. A Noctua,
rare all over Europe (Erastria venustula), was at
one time thought to be peculiar to Epping Forest.
The first specimens were taken there about 1830 ;
these remained unique until 1845, when Mr.
Doubleday found this pretty moth abundantly, one
June day only, near Epping. It was then again
lost, to be rediscovered quite lately; it is now
observed almost every season in Monk Wood, but
scarcely anywhere else in the three kingdoms !
The Geometrae and Tortrices also comprise
exceedingly numerous species of the most varied
and interesting habits; the groups are of im-
portance to the forester, because they include those
species of moths which are the main cause of the
wholesale destruction of the foliage of the trees in
parts of the forest in the early summer which has
become so noticeable of late years. The species
which work the havoc are mainly five in number,