78 WOOLY BEARS. 
enforced rest, and feeding upon the first green vegetation, 
finally spins a cocoon, which is principally composed of the 
barbed hairs of thecaterpillar itself, interwoven with coarse 
silk. ‘he pupa is brown, with tufts of golden bristles, and 
with a tuft at the extremity. Prof. Comstock makes the 
following interesting remarks about this insect in his 
“Manual for the Study of Insects”: ‘Hurrying along like 
a caterpillar in the fall’ is a common saying among 
country people in New England, and probably had its 
origin in observations made upon the larva of the Isa- 
bella Tiger-moth. This is the evenly clipped, furry cater- 
pillar, reddish-brown in the middle and black at either 
end, which is seen so commonly in the autumn or early 
spring. Its evident haste to get somewhere, in the autumn, 
is almost painful to witness. A nervous anxiety is apparent 
in every undulating movement of its body; and frequently 
its shining black head is raised high in the air, and moved 
from side to side, while it gets its bearings. Occasionally 
after such an observation it evidently finds it is mistaken, 
and turns sharply and hastens along faster than ever in 
another direction.” 
The moth, which is also shown in Fig. 76, Plate XI, is 
of a dull orange color, with the front-wings variegated with 
dusky, and spotted with black. The hind-wings are lighter 
colored, and also marked with black spots; they vary some- 
what in the sexes. The body has also the same general 
color of the wings; on the middle of the back of the abdomen 
is arow of about six black dots, and on each side of the 
body occurs a similar row of dots. 
This caterpillar becomes sometimes destructive to the 
cuttings of apple-trees, etc., in our nurseries; blackberry and 
raspberry canes are also sometimes destroyed, as the larve 
eat the tips of the young shoots. They are readily poisoned 
an 1 thus kept in check. 
These ‘‘Hedge-Hog”’ caterpillars, although always com- 
mon, are sometimes exceedingly so, while at other times but 
