MAINE AGRICULTURAL E;XPE;RIMH;NT STATION. I9IO. 357 



Fig. 17. Caterpillar of hickory tiger moth. (From Me. Agr. Ex. 



Sta. Circular). 



They feed until they are nearly one and one-half inches in 

 length and then they leave the trees and seek suitable shelter 

 for their cocoons, the sides of buildings often being selected. 

 The cocoons are oval, snug little objects less than an inch long 

 and are composed almost entirely of the hairs which have 

 covered the caterpillars, closely felted together. Within the 

 cocoon the insect remains all winter — as short, thick, rather 

 blunt brown pupae. 



The winged moths emerge from the cocoons in June and 

 deposit their egg clusters upon some suitable food plant. The 

 hickory tiger moth is pale bufif. The fore wings are thickly 

 sprinkled with little brown dots and set with irregular yellow- 

 ish white spots. The hind wings are unmarked. The spotted 

 tiger moth resembles the related species closely, but the spots 

 are variable in size and number. 



REMEDIAL -MEASURES. 



Arsenical sprays (Formula 6) will poison these caterpillars. 

 However, where trees are carefully watched, the colonies of 

 the tiger caterpillars could be easily removed by hand while they 

 are young and congregated together. Sometimes, too, it is pos- 

 sible to get rid of them by jarring them off on to a sheet. Where 

 they form coccoons along the edges of clapboards and in other 

 crannies about buildings, much can be done by sweeping down 

 the cocoons and destroying them. 



