476 JOURNAL OF ECONOMIC ENTOMOLOGY [Vol. 10 



the surrounding area; the spot in the anal angle being the largest and having a narrow 

 black margin, and small shadings of white within the front border of the black margin. 

 The body is densely hairy. The female butterfly has a wing expanse of from 9 to 10 

 centimeters. The antennae are from 15 to 18 millimeters in length and slightly 

 bulbous at the tips. The legs are dark colored and the anterior pair are short and 

 held folded and apparently not used in any way. The gross appearance of the males 

 differ from the females by being a shade lighter in color, and the angular dark spot 

 in the yellow patch on the dorsal surfaces of the fore wings is fainter. The circular 

 spot on the anal angle of the ventral surface of the hind wing is also somewhat smaller 

 than that of the female. 



Injury Caused 



This pest is only injurious to the cocoanut tree while it is passing 

 through its larval or caterpillar stage, at this time their food consists 

 of the leaves of the tree. These caterpillars form long bag shaped 

 nests of the leaflets by fastening the ends together and spinning a 

 silken lining on the inner side and live in great numbers in these nests. 

 It is safe to estimate that the average nest contains about 400 cater- 

 pillars, and as the average tree only has from 15 to 30 leaves it is need- 

 less to say that if left in the tree the full grown caterpillars living in 

 one nest will very quickly either completely defoliate a tree leaving 

 nothing of the leaves but the large main stalk and the slender midribs 

 of the leaflets, or destroy enough of the foliage to cause serious injury 

 to the tree. 



In beginning an attack upon the long leaflets the caterpillars in- 

 variably commence to feed at a point about half way between the end 

 that is fastened to the main stalk of the frond and the free end of the 

 leaflet. The eating of the borders on either side of the leaflet to its 

 midrib at this point, even though the entire width is not severed, soon 

 causes the outer end to wither as it interferes with the circulation of 

 the juices beyond the place where the caterpillars do their feeding. 

 Frequently it eats its way through the midrib of the leaflet and this 

 completely amputates the distal end which falls to the ground and is 

 never utilized as food for the insect. Thus in three ways it may bring 

 about the destruction of the leaflet, i. e., consumption of the entire 

 leaflet; amputation of distal half of the leaflet; and interference with 

 the circulatory system of a portion of the leaflet. In many instances 

 nests may be located in trees by the appearance of the ground beneath 

 it. The ground below a large nest of full grown caterpillars is some- 

 times nearly covered with the ends of leaflets that have been severed 

 at the middle. Through this habit of feeding at the middle of the 

 leaflets, the caterpillars destroy about as much foliage by wastage as 

 by actual consumption of the frond. 



It is by no means uncommon to see large trees almost entirely 

 denuded of their foliage, and after a severe attack by these cater- 



