370 INSECTS INJURIOUS TO ^"EGETATIOX. 



or umber moth {Hybernia defoliaria) of Europe; but differs 

 from it so much in the larva state, that I have not the slightest 

 doubt of its being a distinct species, and accordingly name it 

 Hybernia Tiliaria, the lime-tree winter-moth, from Tilia, the 

 scientific name of its favorite tree. The fore wings of the 

 male are rusty buff or nankin-yellow, sprinkled with very fine 

 brownish dots, and banded with two transverse, wavy, brown 

 lines, the band nearest the shoulders being often indistinct; in 

 the space between the bands, and near to the thick edge of 

 the wing, there is generally a brown dot. The hind wings are 

 much paler than the others, and have a small brownish dot in 

 the middle. The color of the body is the same as that of the 

 fore wings; and the legs are ringed with buff and brown. The 

 wings expand one inch and three quarters. The body of the 

 female is grayish or yellowish white ; it is sprinkled on the 

 sides with black dots, and there are two square black spots on 

 the top of each ring, except the last, which has only one spot. 

 The front of the head is black ; and the antenna and the legs 

 are ringed with black and white. The tail is tipped with a 

 tapering, jointed egg-tube, that can be drawn in and out, like 

 the joints of a telescope. Exclusive of this tube, the female 

 measures about half an inch in length. The eggs are beautiful 

 objects when seen under a microscope. They are of an oval 

 shape, and pale yellow^ color, and are covered with little raised 

 lines, like net-work, or like the cells of a honeycomb. 



As these span-worms appear at the same time as canker- 

 worms, resemble them in their habits, and often live on the 

 same trees, they can be kept in check by such means as are 

 found useful when employed against canker-worms. 



Probably more than one hundred diflferent kinds of Geome- 

 ters may be found in Massachusetts alone. Seventy-eight are 

 already known to me. Some of these are small, and are not 

 otherwise remarkable ; some are distinguished for their gi-eater 

 size and beauty in the moth state, or for the singularity of the 

 forms and habits of their caterpillars. None of them, how- 

 ever, have become so notorious on account of their devastations 

 as the species already described. 



