210 INSECTS INJURIOUS TO THE CHERRY. 



by an irregular gray line, and towards the base the wings are 

 densely clothed with a wool-like covering. The hind wings 

 are very similar to those of the male; the thorax and legs are 

 purplish brown, the abdomen ochre-yellow, with a purplish- 

 red edging on each ring. 



Shortly after pairing, the female deposits her eggs in clus- 

 ters, sometimes as many as twenty or thirty in one group. 



Fig. 216. 



They are top-shaped, compressed on both sides, and flattened 

 above, about one-sixteenth of an inch long, and one-twentieth 

 of an inch in the longest diameter, creamy white in color, 

 with a yellowish spot above, which gradually becomes darker 

 as it approaches maturity, until it is almost black, when the 

 yellow larva within begins to show through the translucent 



sides. 



The young larvae are darker in color than the more matured 

 specimens ; they keep together in little swarms, and when 

 moving from one place to another follow each other in regular 

 processionary order, a single caterpillar taking the lead, closely 

 followed sometimes by one or two in single file, then by two, 

 three, four, or more, in regular ranks. When about half 

 grown, they lose this habit, and, separating, each one shifts 

 for itself. The larva attains maturity during August, when 

 it measures two and a half inches or more in length and is 



