iScjH] Rlil'ORTOF THE EnTOMOLOUK AL BrAN'CH, I .Sq/. I3 



one on which the caterpillar was fcedino-, were held together by 

 single silk threads ; not abundant enough to permit of the en- 

 closure being termed a nest, but sufficient to give much protec- 

 tion, and to steady the leaves at the tips of the slender twigs. 

 Perhaps the most interesting observation on these caterpillars 

 was with regard to their behaviour when ready to pupate. 

 Owing to the large amount of silk spun over the food during the 

 caterpillar stage, it was expected that the larv?e would spin 

 cocoons, but instead the>' wandered restlessly about their cages, 

 sometimes entering the earth at the bottom, but always coming 

 out again, after a short time, and resuming their wanderings, 

 very much in the same way as had been observed of the larvae 

 of the Cornel Sawfly {Harpipliorus tarsotus). Profiting by 

 experience with the latter, a piece of rotten wood was supplied 

 to them and they immediately burrowed into it and were no 

 more seen. It is therefore probable that this is the natural 

 method of pupation for this species. The pretty little moth 

 flies very early in the spring, and sometimes is seen before the 

 snow is off the ground. 



Of injurious insects particular mention must be made of the 

 Forest Tent-caterpillar {Cliswcampa disstria), which, for miles 

 along the Ottawa river, stripped the aspen groves of every 

 vestige of foliage, and also attacked more or less seriously several 

 other varieties of trees. Much attention was attracted by their 

 depredations upon the trees on, and around, Parliament Hill and 

 elsewhere. During a part of July the moths from these cater- 

 pillars, as will be remembered, were so remarkably abundant 

 throughout the city for several evenings as to cause considerable 

 inconvenience to pedestrians. This was especially the case in 

 the vicinity of electric lights, and shopkeepers suffered much 

 annoyance from their swarming upon and inside their windows, 

 and flying in through every opening. Immense numbers were 

 destroyed in the arc lamps, and by being trodden under foot as 

 they crawled upon the pavements. It is hoped that these 

 obnoxious moths may not be so abundant next season. 



A visit to the Mer Bleue, in the middle of June, resulted in 



