Arctiidse 
Genus ISIA Walker 
Three species belong to this genus, one found in Argentina, 
the other in Turkestan, and the third in the United States 
and Canada. 
Fig. 68 —Isia Isabella , $ . (After Hampson.) 
(i) Isia isabella Abbot & Smith, Plate XVI, Fig. 13, $. 
(The Isabella Tiger-moth.) 
This common insect is found everywhere in the United 
States. The caterpillar is the familiar “woolly bear,” which 
may be often seen by the roadside rapidly making its way in the 
fall of the year to a hiding-place in which to hibernate, or, in 
the spring, to some spot where it may find food. It is reddish- 
brown in color, black at either end. When disturbed, it curls 
up and lies motionless, as if feigning death. To “ caterpillar,” 
in the slang phrase of the Middle West, is to silently succumb 
Fig. 69. —Isia isabella. a. larva; b. pupa. 
and yield to the unavoidable. The larva feeds freely upon a great 
variety of herbaceous plants. It is fond of the grasses, and 
particularly likes the leaves of the plantain ( Plantago ). There 
does not appear to be any marked tendency to variation in this 
species. Both the moth and the larva are common objects, with 
which every American schoolboy who has lived in the country 
