INSECTS ATTACKING SHADE-TREES. 



WHITE-MARKED TUSSOCK MOTH. 

 {Orgyia leucostigma Sm. and Abb.; Order, Lepidoptera.) 



Diagnosis. — la late spring, and through the summer, handsome, 

 hairy caterpillars about 1 inch to I2 inches long, bright yellow, 

 with bright red head, four cream-colored, brush-like tufts of hair 

 on back, two rather long, black pencils of hair projecting forward 

 from head end of body, and one black pencil projecting upward 

 and backward from tail of body; feeding on maple, elm and 

 other trees, and very noticeable crawling on sidewalks and fences 

 close to shade-trees. All through the year cocoons on the trunks 

 of trees, and on fences, walls of buildings, etc., near trees. Masses 

 of eggs in brittle, shining, white substance fastened to bark or on 

 cocoons. 



Description and Life-history. — The adult insect is a moth ; the 

 female wingless, light gray, the oblong-oval body filled with eggs, 

 and the moth usually found clinging to the outside of a cocoon; 



Fig. 53. White-marked Tussock Moth; Uirva. 



the male is winged, the wings expanding about 1 ] inches, ashen- 

 gray in color, with dark, wavy bands across the wings, and with 

 beautifully feathered feelers or antennae. 



The insect passes the winter in the egg. The eggs are laid in 

 masses, the eggs of each mass being held together and covered by 

 a white, brittle, frothy-looking substance. The egg masses are 

 rather conspicuous objects on tree trunks during the winter. In 

 May and June the young larvae appear, and begin eating the foli- 

 age of shade-trees. They are conspicuous because of their bright 

 colors and sti'iking bunches of hairs (see description of larva in 

 Diagnosis). By the middle of July the larvae are mostly full- 



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