14 



These winter webs (figs. 4^7) of the brown-tail moth are very char- 

 acteristic, and there are practicall}^ no other insect structures common 

 upon trees which may be mistaken for them. There are certain old 

 webs of native species which might possibly, by the untrained eye, 

 be considered to be those of the brown -tail moth, but these arc empty 



Fig. C. — Winter webs of the brown-tail moth, attaelied to fruit. (After Kirkland.) 



in the winter time. An}^ web of this character and general size found 

 during the winter which contains 3'oung caterpillars in an^' number is 

 the web of the brown-tail moth. 



The following spring, as soon as the buds begin to appear upon fruit 

 trees, these young, one-fourth-grown caterpillars issue from the over- 

 wintering nests and attack first the buds and blossoms and later the 

 foliage. Apparently half starved b}" their long hibernation, they 



