194 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 
Description. This insect can be distinguished from the preceding 
by the absence of the conspicuous white tents or nests. The forest 
tent caterpillars spin a web but it is much thinner than in the 
case of the species commonly occurring on apple-trees, and usually 
escapes observation on account of its being attached to the side of a 
limb, instead of stretched between diverging branches. 

Fig. 9 Forest tent caterpillar: a, cluster of eggs ; 
6, female; c, top view of an egg; d, side view of sev- 
eral eggs (after Riley). Fig. 10 Larva (after Riley). 
The egg belts are similar to those of the preceding species, except that 
the ends terminate abruptly, all the eggs standing upright (fig. 9). Each 
mass is composed of about 400 eggs, the number ranging from 380 to 
416, according to Dr Riley. The young caterpillars are not often 
noticed. The recently hatched larvae have been characterized as ‘ black 
with pale hairs and are always found either huddled together or traveling in 
file along the silken paths which they form when in search of food.’ After 
feeding for a time they become ‘paler or of a light yellowish brown, with 
the extremities rather darker than the middle of the body, with the warts 
which give rise to the hairs quite distinct, and a conspicuous dark inter- 
rupted line each side of the back’ (Riley). After the second molt the 
characteristic row of spots along the back appears (fig. 10) and enables 
one to readily distinguish between them and the apple-tree tent caterpil- 
lars. As the larvae increase in size and undergo successive molts, the 
colors become brighter and more distinct. ‘The cocoon is very similar to 
that of C. americana. ‘The moth is smaller, lighter colored and may be 
distinguished from that of the apple-tree tent caterpillar by the oblique 
bands across the fore wings being darker instead of lighter than the 
ground color. 
