136 FRUIT INSECTS 



The brown-tail moth has an expanse of about one and one 

 half inches ; the wings are white and the tip of the abdomen 

 bears a tuft of yellowish-brown hairs, hence the name of the 

 insect. The males are a little smaller than the females, and 

 the brownish tuft is not so conspicuous. The moths appear 

 the first week in July, and in badly infested areas are often 

 attracted to electric lights in countless numbers. After mating 

 the female moth deposits from 200 to 300 globular yellowish 



Fig. 149. — Brown-tail moth caterpillars, one in process of molting. 



eggs in an elongate mass on the underside of a leaf (Fig. 148). 

 This egg-mass is about f of an inch in length and is thickly 

 covered with brownish hairs from the abdomen of the female. 

 The eggs are deposited during the first three weeks in July and 

 hatch in 15 to 20 days. The young caterpillars feed in colonies 

 on the t(nider, terminal leaves, webbing them together with 

 silk to form a snug nest (Fig. 150) two or three inches in length 

 within which they pass the winter in a partially grown condi- 

 tion, having molted two or three times before going into hiberna- 

 tion. These winter nests, usually situated at the tips of the 

 branclu^s, are conspicuous objects while the trees are bare of 



