242 MANY -DOTTED WORM ITS HABITS. 



of apple trees. But they are seldom noticed, as they are not 

 numerous and do not cluster together in societies, but occur soli- 

 tary and sparsely scattered among the leaves. One of the most 

 common of these, every year, is a pale green worm of nearly the 

 same hue as the under surface of the leaves, and having numer- 

 ous pale or white dots and five whitish lines running lengthwise 

 of its body. On beating the leaves of apple trees some of these 

 worms almost always fall into the net. They begin to appear 

 the last of May, and are then small and of a more bright lively 

 green color than when they are full grown. They live openly 

 exposed on the under sides of the leaves, without forming any 

 web or fold in the leaf for their concealment and protection. 

 Though they are more common upon the apple than elsewhere 

 they are not limited to this tree, but occur also on the cherry, 

 the peach, and upon elm, poplar and other forest trees. They 

 reach maturity about the last of June, and then measure an inch 

 and a quarter in length, and 0.20 in diameter. The worm then 

 selects an entire, thrifty leaf and contrives to bend one half of 

 it into a convex form by attaching a fine silken thread which it 

 spins from its mouth, first to the outer edge of the leaf and then 

 to or beyond the middle vein, drawing each successive thread 

 tight, as it fastens its end . It thus gradually curves the leaf until 

 it forms a hollow or cavity of sufficient depth to receive its body 

 under the threads. It then crawls into this cavity and continues 

 to spin its threads, crossing them in every direction, until it has 

 wholly shut itself in beneath the paper-like tissue which it 

 weaves. Thus whilst many insects are put to the labor of spin- 

 ning a ball or a pod-like cocoon for their protection during their 

 pupa state, this worm has the artifice of bending a leaf so that 

 it forms nearly two thirds of its cocoon, thus greatly abridging 

 the amount of work to be done at this period of its life. Within 

 the cavity thus formed it changes to a chrysalis, from which the 

 perfect insect, which is an ash-gray moth or miller with a few 

 slender black lines marking its fore wings, is subsequently 

 hatched. One of the worms which shut itself within its cocoon 

 on the twenty- fifth of June gave out the moth on the twenty-fifth 

 of July. But I have captured the moths as early as the begin- 

 ning of July, and worms which have not enclosed themselves in 



