68 



TIIIKD ANNUAL KEPOKT OF 



with a denser foliage in the summer than in the spring, or whether 

 there is really but one brood, are points in the history of our little 

 Plume which yet have to be settled by further observation. 



On account of its spinning habit, which enables us to detect it 7 

 this insect is easily kept in check by hand picking. 



THE COMMON YELLOW BEAR— Spilosoma virginica, Fabr. 



(Lepidoptera, Arctiidse.) 



This is one of the most 

 common North American in- 

 sects. The moth (Fig. 28, c) 

 which is very generally dub- 

 bed " the Miller," frequently 

 flies into our rooms at night j 

 and there are quite a number 

 of our farmers who, somehow 

 or other, have got the idea 

 that this "Miller' 7 is the in- 

 ^>-i«s**-' sec £ tliafc infests their bee- 

 hives — that it is-, in short, the 

 Bee-moth. Of course no such ridiculous idea could for a moment pre- 

 yail among those who read these Reports. 



Though the moth is so common, how few persons ever think of it 

 as the parent of that most troublesome of caterpillars, which Harris 

 has so aptly termed the Yellow Bear (Fig. 28, a). These caterpillars 

 are quite frequently found on the Grape-vine, and when about one- 

 fourth grown bear a considerable resemblance to the mature 

 larva of the Grape-vine Plume which we have just described. They 

 seldom appear, however, till that species has disappeared, and may 

 always be distinguished from it by their semi-gregarious habit at this 

 time of their life, and by living exposed on the leaf (generally the 

 under side) instead of forming a retreat within which to hide them- 

 selves, as does the Plume. 



The Yellow Bear is found of all sizes from June to October; and 

 though quite fond of the vine, is by no means confined to that plant. 

 It is, in fact, a very general feeder, being found on a great variety of 

 herbaceous plants, both wild and cultivated, as butternut, lilac, beans, 

 peas, convolvulus, corn, currant, gooseberry, cotton, sunflower, plan- 

 tain, smart-weed, verbenas, geraniums, and 'almost any plant with 

 soft, tender leaves. Ihese caterpillars are indeed so indifferent as to 

 their diet, that I have actually known one to subsist entirely, from 

 the time it cast its last skin till it spun up, on dead bodies of the 

 Camel Cricket {Mantis Carolina). 



