52 



THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST. 



the base of the silken fringe. The two 

 hind wings are of a very light grey 

 color, with only a dusky dot near the 

 middle of each. 



How unlike this silken-winged crea- 

 ture is its mate. Nature in this in- 

 stance seems to have been very partial 

 in the bestowment of her gifts. He 

 can float in the sunbeams, and fly 

 whither he will; she, poor creature, 

 wingless and clumsy, can only creep. 

 She may be seen at h in tig. 2. Her 

 body is full of eggs, which are so heavy 

 that she drags herself slowly along 

 until she reaches the trunk of the tree, 

 up which she climbs. At r/, in fig. 2, 

 is a magnified segment of the abdomen, 

 shewing the two rows of reddish spines 

 that run transversely across each seg- 

 ment ; c represents a part of the an- 

 tenna of the female, and e her oviposi- 

 tor, both magnified. 



The other species is the Fall Canker 

 Worm, Anisopteryx pometaria. This 



Figure 3. 



is shewn, full grown, at /, fig. 3, while 

 c represents a segment magnified so as 

 to render the markings more distinct, 

 w^hich will be seen to be broader and 

 fewer in number than they are in the 



Figure 4. 



Spring Canker Worm. The wings of 

 |;he male moth are darker, a, fig. 4, 



and the fore wings are crossed by two 

 whitish bands. The female of this 

 species h, fig. 4, is also wingless. The 

 eggs also differ in appearance : Those 

 of the Spring Canker Worm are oval, 

 6, fig. 1 , and are laid in irregular masses, 

 often as many as a hundred together ; 

 while those of the Fall Canker Worm 

 are flattened on the upper surface, with 

 a puncture in the centre, and a brown 

 circle near the border, and are laid in 

 regular, compact masses. See a, b, and 

 e, in fig. 3 : a being an enlarged repre- 

 sentation of an egg, b shewing the toj) 

 of it, and e the manner in which they 

 are placed compactly together. It will 

 also be seen that the antenna of the 

 one, c, fig. 2, is covered with bristles, 

 while that of the other, c, fig. 4, is 

 smooth ; and the abdominal segments 

 of the female of the Fall Canker Worm 

 have no bristles, d, fig. 4. 



The full grown worm of this species 

 also burrows in the ground, and there 

 spins a cocoon of buff colored silk, 

 within which it changes into the chry- 

 salis state, remaining in this condition 

 until the autumn. After the first fall 

 frosts, the perfect insects api)ear, and 

 the females seek the trunks of the trees, 

 up which they crawl to deposit their 

 eggs. 



In the early spring, just when the 

 buds have broken and the tender leaves 

 unfolded, the canker worms of both 

 species are hatched, and begin their 

 destructive work of feeding on the 

 leaves. The larger they grow, the 

 more they eat ; ti^ veiling in countless 

 numbers over the tree, and leaving not 

 a leaf behind. 



It lias been already stated that the 

 females of both species are wingless. 

 This fact, for the knowledge of which 

 we are indebted to the studies of 

 the entomologist, of that man with 

 " a bee in his bonnet," is the heel 

 of Achilles, the vulnerable spot where 

 we may strike and conquer. If we 



