128 GIANT SILK-WORMS. 
The female deposits her eggs in clusters of twenty or 
thirty. They are about one-sixteenth of an inch long, top- 
shaped, of a creamy-white color, with a yellowish spot 
above. When young the dark-colored caterpillars pro- 
duced from one cluster of eggs are gregarious, following 
each other in regular order, but as they grow older they 
scatter, each shifting for itself. The caterpillar (Fig. 130) 
reaches its full size during August, when it measures two 
inches and a half in length. It is now of a delicate pale 
green color, paler and whitish along the back, with a broad 
brown stripe edged with white and reddish lilac on each 
side; the breathing-pores are yellow, ringed with brown. 
The body is covered with clusters of green and branching 
spines, tipped with black, which arise from small warts, of 
which there are a numberoneach segment. These spines are 
very sharp and possess strong urticating properties, so if the 
insect is handled carelessly the points of the spines enter the 
skin, and breaking off fill the wound with an acid, which can 
produce onthe more tender portions of the skin aconsiderable 
irritation accompanied by redness and raised white blotches, 
very similar to those caused by the common stinging nettle. 
The irritation is, however, not so great as if produced bythe 
spines of the larve of some of the slug-worms. As soon as 
mature the caterpillar descends to the ground, where it spins 
a thin, irregular and somewhat parchment-like cocoon made 
of tough, gummy and brown silk, among and below dead 
leaves and other rubbish. The enclosed pupa is short and 
thick, pale-brown, and is ornamented with a few reddish 
bristles on the abdominal joints and a tuft of the same at 
the end. 
These stinging caterpillars are also very general feeders, 
being found on a great variety of plants, among them 
plum, apple, currant, thorn, corn, clover, elm, oak, willow 
and others. 
If this insect ever becomes numerous it can easily 
be subdued by hand-picking, providing the necessary cau- 
