40 Farmers’ Bulletin 1169. 
FALL WEBWORM.” 
Recognition of work.—In the latter part of summer, trees are often 
found bearing on the limbs conspicuous webs (fig. 22) inclosing 
skeletonized, usually brown leaves and numerous hairy caterpillars. 
These are the tents of the fall webworm. The unsightly nests mar 
the appearance of the trees and, in years of abundance, defoliation 
of whole rows of trees may be caused by these worms. 
Habits and seasonal history—In Washington, D. C., the fall web- 
worm completes two life cycles annually; less to the north and more 
Fic. 22.—The fall webworm: Web and caterpillars. (Gill.) 
to the south. It passes the winter in the pupa state in sheer silk 
cocoons (fig. 23) in such places as among sticks and rubbish at the 
surface of the ground, in cracks and crevices of tree boxes and fences, 
under doorsteps, and on basement walls. In May the pupe change 
to moths (fig. 23) which lay their eggs in flat batches of 400 to 500 
on the underside of leaves. The young worms, hatching from the 
eggs, feed in colonies, webbing first one leaf, then several together, 
and eventually covering sometimes all of a good-sized limb. These 
iS Hyphantria cunea Drury. 
