ATTACKING THE LEAVES. 71 



b is shown the clay cell of this insect entire ; at c the same cut 

 through, showing how it is packed with these larvse. These 

 cells are sometimes attached to plants and sometimes con- 

 structed under the loose bark of trees. Insect-eating birds 

 also devour large numbers of canker-worms. 



These insects are not confined to the apple-tree: elm- 

 trees are frequently eaten bare by them ; they attack also 

 the ]>luin, cherry, linden, and many other trees. They are 

 common in the Eastern and Western States, and also in some 

 parts of Canada. 



No. 27.— The Fall Web-worm. 



H)j2}hantria textor Harris. 



After the webs of the tent-caterpillars have been carefully 

 removed in the spring, and the fruit-grower is perhaps flatter- 

 ing himself with the idea that his troubles in this direction 

 are about over, towards the end of summer he may be mor- 

 tified to find his trees again adorned with webs enclosing 

 swarms of hungry caterpillars, devouring the foliage. This is 

 the fall web-worm, an insect totally different in all its stages 

 from the common tent-caterpillar. The moth of this species 

 deposits her eggs in broad patches on the under side of the 

 leaves, near the end of a branch, during the latter part of 

 May or early in June. These hatch in the month of June, 

 July, or August; during the earlier period in the warmer 

 districts, and later in the colder ones. 



As soon as the young larvae appear they begin to eat, and to 

 spin a web over themselves for protection. They devour only 

 the pulpy portion of the leaves, leaving the veins and skin of 

 the under surface untouched. While young, they are of a 

 |)ale-yellowish color, sparingly hairy, with two rows of black 

 marks along the botly. When full grown, they are an inch 

 or more in length, and vary greatly in their markings; some 

 examples are pale yellow or greenish, others much darker and 

 of a bluish-black hue. The head is black, and there is a broad 

 dusky or blackish stripe down the back ; along each side is a 



