8o MAINE AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION. I9O3. 



irregular bands, across the same wings, together with the sHghtly 

 hghter color and absence of markings on the hind wings, are 

 characteristic features. The inconspicuous female moths are 

 wingless and, because of this fact, the spread of the species is 

 very slow, occurring mainly by the transportation of nursery 

 stock infested with eggs. 



The moths usually emerge from the ground early in the spring 

 — about April, or farther south, in March — and the females 

 climb up the trunks of trees to deposit eggs. The eggs, which 

 are shaped something like hens eggs and are about the size of 

 "fly specks," are deposited in irregular masses, usually partially 

 concealed by loose pieces of bark. They hatch about the time 

 the leaves unfold ; the time varying with the locality and the 

 season. The young larvae are voracious feeders and they grow 

 rapidly, usually attaining full size in from three to four weeks 

 from the time of hatching. Upon reaching full size they drop 

 to the ground, burrowing beneath the surface to a depth of two 

 to five inches. Here each one forms a cell, lined with silk which 

 it spins, and soon transforms to the chrysalis stage, where it 

 remains until the following spring, when the adult moth emerges 

 as before. 



THE EALL CANKER-WORM. — (AlsophUa poiuetaria.) 



The fall canker-worm so closely resembles the other species 



as to be frequently mistaken for it. For all practical purposes 



they may be considered together, but the fall canker-worm is 



more distinctively a northern insect. As in the other species 



I the female moth (see figure 



39 b) is wingless, but in 



this species she lacks the 



hairiness which character- 



5'^ ^ %a^''^ ^^ v,<:-ri' izes the other. The male 



Figure 39— Fall canker worm; a, male tiioth ; ^i^i f ficrure^ -20 n^ ha^ 



6, female moth; (/, egK cluster. motn (ngure 39 a) nas 



two light bands across the front wings instead of the single one 

 of the preceding, and the rear wings are slightly shaded. The 

 larvae of this species also, besides having three pairs of legs 

 under the hind end of the body, as shown in figure 40 /, have a 

 broad, dark stripe along the back, as opposed to the narrow mark- 

 ings of the other species. The eggs, which are slightly larger 

 than in the previous species, somewhat resemble small flower 



