232 



THE STUDY OF INSECTS 



Family LymantriidjE 



The family Liparidas of some writers 



The Tussock-moths 



The larvae of these moths are among the most beautiful of our cater- 

 pillars, being clothed with brightly-colored tufts of hairs; and it is to 

 this characteristic clothing of the larva? that the popular name tussock- 

 moths refers. 



The adult moths are much plainer in appearance than the larvae; 

 and in the genera, to which our most common species belong, the females 

 are practically wingless, the wings being at most short pads, of no use as 

 organs of flight. 



The tussock-moths are of medium size, with the antennae of both 

 sexes when winged pectinated, those of the males very broadly so; the 

 wingless females have serrate or narrowly pectinate antennae. 



The larvae of our native species are very characteristic in appearance. 

 The body is hairy; there are several conspicuous tufts of hairs on the 

 dorsal aspect of the abdomen, and at each end of the body there are 

 long pencils of hairs; on the sixth and seventh abdominal segments there 

 is on the middle of the back of each an eversible gland supposed to be a 

 scent-organ similar to the osmateria in the larvae of Papilio, and it is 

 stated that a fine spray of liquid is sometimes thrown from them. 



The white-marked tussock-moth, Hemerocampa 

 leucostigma. — This is our most common represent- 

 ative of the family. It frequently occurs in such 

 great numbers that it seriously injures the foliage of 

 shade-trees and orchards. The male (Fig. 407) is of 

 an ashy-gray color; the fore wings are crossed by 

 Hemerocampa undulated bands of darker shade and bear a conspicu- 

 ous white spot near the anal angle. The female is 

 white and resembles a hairy grub more than a moth. She emerges from her 

 cocoon and after pairing lays her eggs upon it, covering them with a frothy 

 mass. The larva (Fig. 408) is one of the most beautiful of our caterpillars. 



Fig. 407. 

 leucostigma. 



Fig. 408. — Hemerocampa leucostigma, larva. 



The head and the glands on the sixth and seventh abdominal segments are 

 bright vermilion-red. There is a velvety black dorsal band, bordered with 

 yellow subdorsal stripes; and there is another yellow band on each side 

 just below the spiracles. The prothorax bears on each side a pencil of 



