384 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 



Description. The eggs of this insect are deposited usually in 

 round or oval patches on a piece of bark and then covered with 

 bufT colored scales from the underside of the female's abdomen. 

 A completed egg mass looks very much like a small oval section 

 of a sponge. These masses may be found on stones, in tin cans 

 and in fact on almost any fixed object near at hand, preferably 

 on the under surface, particularly of limbs, fence rails, window 

 sills, etc. The egg itself is nearly globular, pale yellowish or salmon- 

 colored, about ^V inch in diameter, and there are usually 400 to 

 500 of these in a cluster, though occasionally 1000 occur in one 

 mass. The young caterpillar is slightly over j\ inch long just 

 after it emerges from the egg. It has a black head, the body is 

 brownish yellow and well clothed with long hairs. There is on 

 either side of the segment next the head, a prominent haired 

 tubercle, which gives the young caterpillar in particular, a peculiar 

 broad-headed appearance. The markings become plainer as it 

 increases in size, and when full grown it is from 2 to 2+ inches 

 long or about the size of our common tent caterpillar or the 

 forest tent caterpillar. It may then be recognized bv the eight 

 bluish tubercles or swellings in a double line on the anterior dorsal 

 portion of the body, and the 12 reddish ones in a double line on 

 the posterior dorsal part of the caterpillar. In addition, there 

 are four bluish tubercles or elevations just behind the head. The 

 general color of the full grown caterpillar is brownish yellow with 

 dark brown, in some cases almost black markings. The somewhat 

 conical, dark brown pupa ranges from | to i^ inches long and is 

 usually found lying among a few threads spun on bark, stone or 

 other support and securely attached to these filaments by its 

 terminal spine. 



The moths differ very greatly. The male is a slender, olive brown, 

 black marked insect with beautifully feathered antennae and a wing 

 spread of about i^ inches. It flies in the late afternoon and early 

 evening. The female is much heavier and lighter colored. She has 

 a wing spread of about 2 inches and is white or buff white with more 

 or less distinct wavy, black markings. The abdomen is tipped with 

 buff. The female does not fly though she apparently has well 

 developed wings. 



Recommendations. Investigate anything that arouses a sus- 

 picion that it may be the gipsy moth, but be in no undue haste to 

 identify the insect. It will be much more satisfactory to submit 

 specimens to an entomologist than to arouse unnecessary fears. 



