130 HEMILEUCIDS. 
The sting of these caterpillars is really quite severe, and 
it is not easy to handle them with impunity. The insects 
themselves lack the power of stinging us, and it is simple 
carelessness on our part if we are injured atall. The effect 
of these stings is violent pain, a reddening of the punctured 
parts, and the early appearance of raised whitish blotches, 
followed later by purplish spots, which do not disappear for 
several days. 
Fig. 131.—Hemileuca maia Drury; eggs; a, caterpillar; b. pupa; c, d, e, f, g, spines. 
From Div. of Entomology, Dep. of Agriculture. 
When mature all the caterpillars, which are gregarious 
throughout their existence, enter the ground, and there ina 
simple oval cell, each one sheds its prickly skin and assumes 
the pupal state. The pupa is of a deep brownish-black 
color, heavy, rounded anteriorly, and minutely roughened, 
except the sutures of legs and wing-sheaths, where it is 
smooth and polished. The abdomen ends in a triangular, 
flattened and ventrally concave tubercle, which is topped 
with a few eurled, blunt, and rufous bristles. 
