Yellow-bear Caterpillar Zebra Caterpillar 



DESCRIPTION 



The Egg 



The eggs are laid in clusters on some green plant. In the Arkansas 

 Valley Mr. Marsh found large numbers of eggs on rhubarb, which appears 

 to be a favorite food plant. 



The Caterpillar 



Unlike the cutworms and the other caterpillars so far considered in 

 this Bulletin, the yellow-bear is completely covered with a coat of tawny 

 hair. This varies from a reddish brown in the darker individuals to a light 

 yellow or straw color in the lighter ones. Figure 15, Plate V, Page 19 

 represents one of the lighter type. The body of the caterpillar is most 

 often pale yellow or straw color with a darker stripe running lengthwise 

 on either side. 



The Pupa 



The pupa is more robust than that of the cutworms already men- 

 tioned. Instead of entering the ground to pupate the worms seek some 

 secluded place such as underneath boards and other objects lying on the 

 ground or among the dead leaves and trash about the borders of fields 

 and on ditch banks. Here the caterpillar forms a loose cocoon composed 

 almost entirely of its own hairs held together by threads of silk, within 

 which it changes to the pupa and later to the moth. 



The Moth 



The adult yellow-bear (Fig. 16, Plate V, Page 19), sometimes known 

 as the Virginian tiger-moth, is one of our most delicate night fliers. Pure 

 white with dark spots on the wings and three rows of black dots on the 

 body alternating with two yellow stripes, this moth presents a striking 

 contrast to the dusky winged cutworm moths. 



LIFE HISTORY 



This moth spends the winter in the pupal stage concealed under 

 trash along fence rows and ditch banks and on other waste ground. The 

 moths appear in early summer to deposit the eggs for the first brood of 

 worms, which become mature about the last of July. The second brood 

 appears during August and becomes fully grown about the first week of 

 September. These worms pupate after spinning the loose cocoon already 

 mentioned and remain in this form until the next spring. 



NATURAL ENEMIES 



The natural enemies of the yellow-bear appear to be peculiarly few. 

 Because of their covering of hair few birds feed upon them. Certain 

 Tachina-flies destroy a few worms and in some localities many die of a 

 fungous disease.* 



(f) ZEBRA CATERPILLAR 

 (Fig. 11, Plate III, Page 15) 



This is one of our most striking caterpillars. When resting on a 

 beet with its bright colors contrasted with the dark green of the leaves 

 it is almost a thing of beauty. 



*Boirytis bassiana Bals. 



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