One of the commonest of these moths is the Ghost Swift, which may be seen in hundreds on waste places in the south of England during the month of June. The wings of the male are white, with a silky gloss, and a very narrow brown margin. The fore wings of the female are yellow, marked with irregular reddish lines. The hind wings are of a dull smoke colour. [Illustration: FIG. 116.--THE GHOST SWIFT--FEMALE.] The larva is pale yellow, with a brown head, and a brown horny plate on the front of the second segment. It feeds throughout the winter on the roots of numerous plants, including the dock, dandelion, burdock, white dead nettle, black horehound, and the hop. _The Common Swift_ (_Hepialus lupulinus_) The fore wings of the male of this species are brown, with a bent whitish streak, sometimes broken, passing from the base to the middle of the inner margin, and then to the apex. The hind wings are smoke coloured, with a light brownish fringe. The female is much less distinctly marked, and presents a rather dingy appearance. [Illustration: FIG. 117.--THE COMMON SWIFT.] The larva is dingy white, with brown horny plates on the second, third and fourth segments. It feeds on the roots of dead nettles (_Lamium album_ and _L. purpureum_), black horehound (_Ballota nigra_), and various other herbaceous plants, throughout the winter months, and is full grown in April. This insect is abundant everywhere in waste places, and may be seen on the wing in May and June. Family--COSSIDAE The members of this family have longer antennae than the _Hepialidae_, and the females are provided with extended ovipositors which enable them to place their eggs in the deep crevices of the bark of trees. The larvae are naked or only very slightly hairy, and have a plate on the second segment. They feed on the wood of trees or the interior of the stems of reeds. The pupae have spiny projections on each segment. _The Goat Moth_ (_Cossus ligniperda_) There are only three British species of this family, the largest of which is the Goat Moth, so called on account of the characteristic odour of the larva, an odour said to resemble that emitted by the goat. The fore wings of this fine moth are pale brown, clouded with white, and marked by numerous wavy transverse lines. The hind wings are somewhat similar, but of a duller tint, and the markings are less distinct. Its average breadth from tip to tip is over three inches, and it sometimes reaches nearly four inches.