WOOLY BEARS. 79 
few can be found. Their absence in the usual numbers is 
caused by the fact that very many of them are killed by 
a disease. Caterpillars attacked by the Muscardine are 
stiffly fastened to their food-plants, and are covered with a 
white effloresence; this latter is not very apparent at the 
base of the dense hairs, hence such diseased or dead cater- 
pillars look for a long time quite life-like. 
THE LARGE YELLOW BEAR. 
(Leucarctia acrea Drury). 
These large and wooly caterpillars are sometimes quite 
numerous in our gardens and orchards. Usually they feed 
upon grasses and other low growing plants, but they are 
not slow to eat also the leaves of young fruit trees and of 
the small fruit. Both sexes of the moth are shown in Fig. 
his Plate XT. 
THE COMMON YELLOW BEAR. 
(Spilosoma virginica Fab.). 
This is one of our most common hairy caterpillars, and 
whoever has a garden must have met with this troublesome 
insect, which devours alike flowers, vegetables and fruit. 
With us it seems to be very partial to the leaves of the grape- 
vine, apple, currant and gooseberry, though nearly all other 
plants are eaten when pressed by hunger, and the insect is 
sometimes very destructive to corn, beans and peas. It is 
found {rom June to late in September. When young the 
caterpillars are bluish-white, but when full grown they may 
be found of a pale cream color, yellow, light-brown or very 
dark-brown, the different colors often appearing in a brood 
hatched from one batch of eggs. Yellow is, however, the 
most common color, and in all the different color-varieties 
the under side is dark, with a longitudinal black line, more 
