76 



THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. 



one in front of it. From the habit ot the larvae of this genus of marching 

 out to feed in bodies they are known in Europe as " Processionary 

 Caterpillars." When their appetites are satisfied they return again to 

 their tents to rest. They do not feed at night nor in stormy weather. 

 They usually do not leave their tent until after nine in the morning, and 

 have all returned before sundown. They are generally inactive in the 

 middle of the day. 



When full grown the caterpillars are two inches in length, and beauti- 

 fully marked with black, white, blue, yellow and brown in the pattern 



shown in Fig. i., B. The continuous stripe down 

 the back is white, and serves as a distinctive mark 

 by which this species can be known at once from the 

 Forest Tent Caterpillar — Fig. 2— which has this 

 dorsal stripe broken up into spots. This latter also 

 differs in not constructing a tent, but merely spins a 

 mat of silk on the side of a tree, or upon one of the 

 large branches, on and near which it lives, more or 

 less, in community ; but it has not the same social 

 habits as its relative. Just before they spin their 

 cocoons, the caterpillars wander about very much, 

 seeking for a suitable place. The cocoon, Fig. i., 

 C, is greenish yellow, and contains a powdery material 

 like finely ground sulphur. The moths emerge in about eighteen or 

 twenty days after the cocoon is made. 



Remedies. — The most successful remedies with these insects all come 

 under hand-picking. During the winter or early spring the egg-clusters can 

 be easily collected and destroyed ; they are always laid upon the small twigs 

 and near the tips, so that if a dull day be chosen they can be easily detected 

 against the sky, and can then be cut off and burnt, when, of course, the 

 trees are exempt from attack, until eggs are laid again next year. If this 

 precaution is neglected, the nests, which are conspicuous objects before 

 the foliage is fully expanded in spring, must be cut off and destroyed. An 

 invasion from neighbouring trees can be prevented by tying a ^rip of 

 cotton-batting round the trunk, which the caterpillars have difficulty in 

 climbing over. 



Fig. 2. 



