The Pistol-Case-Bearer. 7 



these curious cases with their inhabitants partly protruding from 

 one end are shown much enlarged at b, b, b, plate i ; at r, plates 

 I and 2, many of the cases are represented, natural size, attached 

 to the branch. The cases are of a dark brown or black color, 

 more or less covered with grayish pubescence from the leaves. 

 Their form is aptly described by the word " pistol-shaped. ' ' They 

 are of a tough leathery texture, and evidently made of silken 

 threads interwoven with the pubescence from the leaves, and the 

 whole stained dark in some manner, probably by the excrements 

 of the caterpillar. 



How this curious 

 case is made will 

 be described fur- 

 ther on in dis- 

 cussing the life 

 history of the in- 

 sect. When the 

 insect is at work 

 in April, May, or 

 June, these cur- 

 ious pistol-shaped 

 cases are quite 

 conspicuous, and 

 certainly very 

 odd-looking ob- 

 jects, as they are 

 seen projecting at 

 various angles 

 from a flower-bud (frontispiece) , from the surface of a leaf, or 

 from the side of a branch (c, plates i and 2). They are sure to 

 arouse one's curiosity, especially when, after watching one for a 

 few minutes, it is seen to move off to another part of the bud 

 or leaf. 



A careful examination of one of these moving pistol-shaped 

 objects will reveal its inhabitant, an orange-colored, black-headed 



iterpillar about one- fourth of an inch in length.* When dis- 



*Technical description of larva. — Length, 6 mm. Color, deep chrome or 

 light orange ; the thoracic segments are darker, the first one blackish. 



I.- 



■Work of the pistol-case-bearer on apple foliage. 

 Natural size. 



