INSECTS INJURIOUS TO THE CURRANT. 



THE SPINOUS CURRANT CATERPILLAR. 



{Vanessa [Grapta) Progtf, Fabr.) 



Order of LEPIDOPTERA. Family of Nymphalid^. 



Fitch's Third New York Rep., No. 142. 



A light- brownish or drab colored caterpillar, about one inch in 

 length, thickly beset with white, branching epines, slightly tipped 

 with black, and averaging in length about half the width of the 

 body. The face also is- prickly with short, whitish spines. The 

 first segment or collar is narrower than the head and second seg- 

 ment, forming a neck between the head and body. Pupa sus- 

 pended with the head downward, often attached to a twig or leaf 

 stalk ; pale brown, faintly clouded upon the side with olive-green, 

 and the abdomen broadly striped, with the same on the back and 

 sides. There is a deep depression across the middle of the back, 

 on each side of which are two small silvery spots. 



In its perfect state this insect is on e of our most common and 

 widely disseminated butterflies, being met with over nearly the 

 whole of the North American continent. It expands from one 

 and three-quarters to two inches. It has scalloped wings, of a 

 bright tawny or orange-red color, with black spots. On the under 

 side the wings are entirely different, being of a blackish-gray color, 

 paler at the tips, and with a small silvery mark on the hind wings, 

 resembling the letter L. 



The larva or caterpillar of this species sometimes feeds upon the 

 leaves of the currant, but from the fact that the butterfly is com- 

 mon, whilst its larva is not generally known as a currant-eating 

 caterpillar, it is evident that it must, ordinarily, have some other 



