ORGYIA LEUCOSTIGMA : THE MOTH AND EGG. 73 



The body is brown, quite slender, small in proportion to the spread 

 of wings, and bears a small black tuft of upright hairs near its base. 



The antennae are beautiful objects — the redeeming feature of the un- 

 usual plainness. " They are about one-third of the length of the wings, 

 gray, with a double row of dark-brown branches resembling the teeth of 

 a comb. Each branch has a row of very fine hairs, like eye-lashes, along 

 each side, and at its tip three bristles, one of which is much longer and 

 directed inward toward the head " (Fitch). 



When at rest, the moth has its long, hairy front legs stretched out 

 divergingly in front of its head, with the antennse usually extended at 

 right angles with its body, as shown in the figure. With the recollec- 

 tion of this unusual attitude in connection with the features above in- 

 dicated, the moth can hardly fail of being recognized during its season 

 of prevalence — toward the last of July and early in August. 



The female is of a very different appearance, being apparently wing- 

 less, having only the rudiments of wings in the form of a little pad on 

 each side, and its ash-gray body distended with its burden of eggs when 

 it creeps out of the cocoon, to a breadth of a quarter of an inch in a 

 length of half an inch. Its antennae are not branched, and it scarcely 

 possesses any feature which would lead the ordinary observer to associ- 

 ate it with its mate or to regard it as a moth. 



The Egg. 



The eggs — the last phase as we have traced the progress, but prop- 

 erly, the first in the series of the four insect stages — are deposited in 

 mass upon the surface of the cocoon, as will be hereafter described. The 

 egg is round, with a strong, thick, cream-colored shell, and in size is 

 about three-hundredths of an inch in diameter. It has a slight de- 

 pression apically, marking the point at which the caterpillar eats an 

 opening for its escape. 



Natural History. 



The life-history may next be traced in its progress through the several 

 stages above described. The eggs are hatched at about the middle of 

 May, varying with the season, and, perhaps, from their different exposures, 

 for in the same locality some of the deposits have been from three to 

 four weeks later than others in disclosing their larvae. As has been fol- 

 lowed by Prof. Riley,- the stages of growth observed were as follows : 



The first molting of the caterpillars occurred seven days after escap- 

 ing from the egg. At intervals of six days each, the second and third 

 moltings took place. Six days thereafter some of the larvae had attained 

 their growth, ceased feeding, and commenced to spin their cocoons. 

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