Life History. 



The gypsy moth, like all insects of its class, exists under four 



different forms during the year. 



The Egg. - - The eggs of the gypsy moth are laid in July and 



August in a yellowish, hair-covered mass averaging about one and 



one-half inches long and about three- 

 fourths of an inch wide. To the eye the 

 egg mass resembles a small, tightly stuffed, 

 oval, buff-colored cushion. During win- 

 ter the color often fades to a dingy white. 

 In this mass, the eggs, to the average 

 number of about five hundred, are closely 

 packed with yellowish hair from the body 

 of the female moth. An individual egg 

 is scarcely as large as a pinhead, salmon- 

 colored when first laid, but turning dark 

 in the course of a few weeks. 



The Caterpillar or Larva. The eggs 

 hatch about May 1, and each mass or 

 "cluster" yields a swarm of small cater- 

 pillars, the bulk of which become fully 

 grown by midsummer. Gypsy moth cater- 

 pillars of any age are decidedly hairy. The head of the caterpillar is 



large in proportion to its body, this being 



especially noticeable when it is young. 

 The mature caterpillar has a dusky or 



sooty-colored body. Along the back, 



counting from the head, which is marked 



with yellow, is a double row of blue spots 



followed by a double row of red spots. 



This double row of spots almost invariably 



may be seen very distinctly on the back 



of a gypsy moth caterpillar which has 



attained a length of one inch and a half 



or more. There are five pairs of blue 



spots and six pairs of red spots. No 



other New England larva has this double 



row of blue and red spots along its back. 



Until the gypsy moth caterpillar grows to 



the length of an inch and a half, however, 



it does not always show very distinctly 



these pairs of spots. The mature gypsy 



moth caterpillar not infrequently attains a length of three inches. 



FIG. 1. Egg cluster of 

 gypsy moth. 



FIG. 2. Full-grown cater- 

 pillar of the gypsy moth. 



