Beport of the State Fxtojwlogtst. 51 



street, had only the principal ribs of the leaves left. The blackened 

 remains, enveloped in the threads of the larvfe which had been spun 

 in their dropj^ing- from the branches above, with grains of excrement 

 clinging to them, gave to the tree a more repulsive appearance than 

 anv that I had ever seen as the result of insect attack. 



Lagoa opercularis (Sm.-Abb.). 



The Babbit Moth.. 



(Ord. Lepidoptera : Fam. Bombycid/e). 

 Smith-Abbot: Nat. Hist. Lep. Ins. Geo., 1797, p. 107, pi. 54 (as rhahena). 

 Morris : Synop. Lepidop. N. A., 18G2, p. 257 (descr. of male, from Walker). 

 Packard: in Proc. Ent. Soc. Phil., ill, 1864, p. 334 (descr. of female). 

 Walsh: in Amer. Ent., ii, 1869, p. 29 (brief notice). 

 Harris: Entomolog. Corr., 1869, p. 365 — is not opercularis, but crispata. 

 Riley : 5th Kept. Ins. Mo., 1873, p. 126 (in list of stinging larvse) ; in Amer. 



Ent., iii, 1880, p. 51 (brief description). 

 Murtfeldt: in Canad. Ent., viii, 1876, pp. 201-2 (stinging powers). 

 Hubbard : Ins. Affect. Orange, 1885, pp. 140-1, figs. 57, 58, 59. 



An unusually abundant occurrence on an apple tree, of the strange- 

 looking larva of this species, shown in Figure 24, 

 was reported by Mr. C. R. Moore, of Birdsnest, 

 Va. Eighteen were counted on a small tree, 

 which had been almost denuded of its leaves. 

 Of examples sent on the nineteenth of August, -pia. a. — Caterpillar of 

 two had spun their cocoons when received Lagoa opeeculaeis. 

 on the tAventy-third. 



Stinging Power of the Larva. 



Mr. Moore gives the following as his exi:)erience with the insect: "I 

 find that when the caterpillar crawls over the skin on the back of my 

 hand, that it causes the place to smart considerably for three hours or 

 more, and moisture to exude from the skin." 



The irritating powers pertaining to the hairs of this caterpillar 

 have long been known: under rough and incautious handling they 

 may be far more severe than above stated. Miss Murtfeldt has 

 related in the Canadian Entomologist, for November, 1876 (viii, 

 201-2), experiments made by her with one of the larvae, which she 

 permitted to strike one of her fingers. The slight prick felt was 

 speedily followed by irritation, and later in the day with severe jDain, 

 inflammation and swelling of the finger. Soda, ammonia, arnica, cam- 

 phor, and acids were successively resorted to, but none served to allay 

 the burning pain — as intense as if the finger had been held against 

 glowing coals. A night of sleepless suffering followed, and it was 

 not until the next morning that the pain subsided. 



