358 INSECTS OF MASSACHUSETTS. 



streaked with purple-brown on the outer edge, they have a few 

 dark brown spots near the inner margin, and they are scolloped 

 or notched inwardly at the end ; his hind-wings are light yellow- 

 ish gray, with whitish fringes. The female is much larger than 

 the male, and much darker colored ; her fore-wings are propor- 

 tionally longer, not so deeply notched on the outer hind margin, 

 and not so much turned up at the end ; they are more tinged 

 with purple-brown, sprinkled with darker spots ; and the hind- 

 wings are dirty or grayish white. There are two broods of these 

 insects in the course of a year. Some winged moths of the first 

 brood begin to appear towards the end of April, or early in 

 May ; those of the second brood are most abundant in August ; 

 but between these periods, and even later, others come to per- 

 fection, and consequently some of them may be found during the 

 greater part of the summer. By day they remain quiet on the 

 sides or in the crevices of the bee-house ; but, if disturbed at 

 this time, they open their wings a little, and spring or glide 

 swiftly away, so that it is very difficult to seize or to hold them. 

 In the evening they take wing, when the bees are at rest, and 

 hover around the hive, till, having found the door, they go in and 

 lay their eggs. Those that are prevented by the crowd, or by 

 any other cause, from getting within the hive, lay their eggs on 

 the outside, or on the stand, and the little worm-like caterpillars 

 hatched therefrom easily creep into the hive through the cracks, 

 or gnaw a passage for themselves under the edges of it. These 

 caterpillars, at first, are not thicker than a thread. They have 

 sixteen legs. Their bodies are soft and tender, and of a yellow- 

 ish white color, sprinkled with a few little brownish dots, from 

 each of which proceeds a short hair ; their heads are brown and 

 shelly, and there are two brown spots on the top of the first ring. 

 Weak as they are, and unprovided with any natural means of 

 defence, destined, too, to dwell in the midst of the populous 

 hive, surrounded by watchful and well-armed enemies, at whose 

 expense they live, they are taught how to shield themselves 

 against the vengeance of the bees, and pass safely and unseen in 

 every direction through the waxen cells, which they break down 

 and destroy. Beeswax is their only food, and they prefer the 

 old to the new comb, and are always found most numerous in 



