134 Bugs, Butterflies, and Beetles 



gin to nest in a convenient fork of a tree. The 

 caterpillars all work together to make these tents, 

 which form retreats for them when they are not 

 engaged in eating, and, if you will secure a forked 

 stick and push one of these tents down, you will 

 find it contains a ball of caterpillars as big as your 

 two fists. As the young increase in age and size 

 they enlarge the tent. At certain times, depending 

 upon the weather, they all come out together to 

 eat and, when their feast is finished, they all retire 

 at once. 



When fully grown the caterpillars (Fig. 130) 

 measure about two inches. They have black heads 

 and a black back. From one end to the other is a 

 whitish line on each side of which, on a yellow back- 

 ground, are a number of fine crinkled black lines 

 that, lower down, mingle together and form a 

 broad black stripe, or rather a row of long black 

 spots, one to each ring, in the middle of which is a 

 small blue spot. Below this is a narrow wavy line 

 and lower still the sides are variegated with fine 

 intermingled black and yellow lines which are lost 

 at last in a general dusty color on the under side 

 of the body. There is a small dusky wart on the 

 top of the eleventh ring and the whole body is 



