REPORT OF STATE ENTOMOLOGIST, 1898 177 
CLISIOCAMPA AMERICANA Fabr. 
Apple-tree tent caterpillar 
Ord. Lepidoptera: Fam. Lasiocampidae 
The wide-spread and severe ravages of the tent caterpillar the last two 
or three years have led to a more general desire for knowledge about this 
species. ‘Though its life history and habits are well known to ento- 
mologists and have been repeatedly published, yet, aside from the occur- 
rence of the larvae in their nests from spring to spring, many seem to have 
little idea of the insect’s habits. 
An old and familiar pest. This species attracted the attention of 
the earliest entomologists. Its conspicuous white nests in the forks of 
cherry trees along the roadsides and in the neglected orchards of New 
England were well-known features of the landscape during the spring 

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Fig. 5 Wild cherry-tree defoliated by tent caterpillars (after Weed, C. M.). 
months in the latter part of the 18th century as well as in the rgth. In 
the latter part of May it is by no means uncommon to see many of the 
wild cherry-trees beside the country roads practically leafless, and swarm- 
