264 OHIO EXPERIMENT STATION: BULLETIN 332 



it throws the forepart of the body from side to side when disturbed, 

 makes it greatly feared by many. It is a harmless creature. How-' 

 ever, if in handling it one carelessly squeezes it or by any means 

 pierces the flesh with the spines, the wound is rather painful. 



The pupa is of stocky build and is about 214 inches long. It is 

 a beautiful brown and occurs beneath the surface of the soil. 



The adult is one of our most beautiful moths. It has a wing 

 expanse of about 6 inches. Its color is described by Felt as "red- 

 dish brown with bright, brick-red markings." 



The egg is almost one-eighth of an inch in length, oval with 

 thin flexible shell and covered with fine pits. 



Life histoiy and habits. — Apparently the winter is passed in 

 the pupal stage beneath the surface of the soil. Riley states the 

 moths emerge in the latitude of St. Louis, usually during the last 

 half of June. In Ohio the writer has taken the mature larvae in 

 considerable abundance in late September and early October. Mod- 

 erate frosts do not stop the feeding of the insects. It is probable 

 that the insect is only one-brooded as far north as Ohio but Pack- 

 ard (18) reports it as double-brooded in Georgia. 



Nature of work. — This is solely a foliage-destroying species, 

 and on account of the tremendous size and voracious appetite of the 

 larvae would consummate great injury were it to occur in great 

 numbers. Fortunately it is not an abundant species and the feeding 

 of a few larvae is not of great moment. 



Food plants. — Black walnut, butternut, hickory, persimmon, 

 sumac, sweet-gum, sycamore, ash, lilac, cotton, sea-island cotton 

 and sassafras are listed as food plants. During the last two sea- 

 sons the larva was found with considerable frequency upon the last- 

 named host in southern Ohio during late September and early 

 October. 



Distribution. — The hickory horned-devil is found over a terri- 

 tory extending from the southern New England states to as far 

 south and west as Texas. Its range of greatest abundance is pro- 

 bably the eastern-central states. 



Natural enemies. — Packard (32) reports a large species of 

 Tachina, Belvosia bifasciata, as bred from this species. 



Control. — The writer has never heard of an instance where arti- 

 ficial control measures were necessary. However, should the 

 necessity arise, hand picking the larvae or spraying with arsenicals 

 doubtless would prove effective. 



