WOOLLY BEARS. 



which to curl up for the winter. When spring comes, it 

 hustles for a little food, plantain being a favorite, and then 

 pupates in a cocoon made of silk and larval hairs. The 

 relative amount of black in the larva's "fur" varies greatly 

 and is said to foretell weather but I forget what is what, 

 although some experiments which I once made indicated 

 that past, not future, moist conditions increase the amount 

 of black. There are two annual broods. 



Diacrisia (also called Spilosoma) virginica is the Yellow- 

 bear of our gardens; the dense, long hair of some in- 

 dividuals is, however, white and of others is reddish. The 

 adults (Plate XLIX) have up to four small black dots on 

 each of their white wings. One of the several broods 

 hibernates in the pupal state. 



Apantesis: There are twenty or more species in the 

 United States alone. It is rather characteristic of the 

 genus that the front wings are checkered somewhat after 

 the fashion of the species, nais, shown in Plate XLIX; 

 the prevailing colors are red, brown, and white. The 

 larvae are general feeders, especially on low-growing things, 

 such as plantain. 



Euchaetias 



Numbers of the gay Harlequin cater- 

 pillars (Plate XLIX) are frequently seen on 



GfitlG 



milkweed, feeding together in apparent 

 disregard of birds. Most birds do not seem to care for 

 hairy larvae at any rate, but probably this species gets 

 additional protection, advertised by its colors, from the 

 acrid nature of its food. The cocoon is formed under 

 loose stones and leaves. One brood of adults flies in June, 

 another in late summer. It and the following species are 

 given, by some authors, the generic name Cycnia. 



Pareuchates (or Ammalo) eglenensis also feeds on milk- 

 weed. The predominating color of the larval hairs is 

 dark gray; its head is orange, while that of egle is black. 

 The adult resembles egle but is somewhat smaller and has 

 the front margin of the front wings, the head, and the 

 collar, orange. There is a summer form (inopinatus) in 

 which the gray portions are almost white. 



169 



