INJURING THE LEAVES. 43 



two or three hundred each, upon the twigs, as shown 

 at c, Fig. 14. After they are laid the parent moth 

 covers them with a viscid liquid, which dries into a 

 sort of varnish that completely coats them, as rep- 

 resented at e. The insect remains in this egg state 

 from July until the following spring, when the little 

 caterpillars emerge from the eggs, and begin feeding 

 upon the tender foliage of the buds about them. In 

 a few days they begin to make a silken tent, utilizing 

 generally, for this purpose, a fork of the branch. As 

 time goes on the nest is enlarged. The caterpillars 

 retire to the tent at night, and during c<>1<1 and wet 

 weather, and when not feeding. They have regular 

 times for their meals, leaving and returning to the' 

 nest in processions. They become full grown in 

 about six weeks, being extremely voracious during 

 the latter part of their development. They are then 

 nearly two inches long, with a hairy body, orna- 

 mented with a distinct white stripe along the mid- 

 dle of the back, on each side of which are numerous 

 short, yellow, longitudinal lines, rather irregularly 

 arranged. The sides are partially covered with paler 

 lines, spotted and streaked with blue, while the low- 

 er surface of the body is black. The full grown 

 caterpillar is represented at a and b, Fig. 14. 



Most of the caterpillars leave the tree where their 

 nest is, as fast as they become full grown, and crawl 

 about in search of a suitable shelter to pupate in. 

 Having found this — beneath a board, or in the 

 cracks of a fence — they spin an oval, silken cocoon, 



