542 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD 



destroyed in them by spraying the nest on a cloudy or cool day 

 with pure kerosene. Apply the spray with an extension rod and 

 fine nozzle so that the nest will be thoroughly soaked, without 

 spraying the surrounding foliage. Or the caterpillars may be 

 destroyed by burning the nests with a torch while they are in 

 them, or while young they may be swabbed out with a broom or 

 brush and crushed. 



No injury need be feared in an orchard sprayed for codling- 

 moth and other insects. 



The Yellow-necked Apple Caterpillar * 



During late summer the tips of apple limbs are often found 

 defoliated for a foot or two and if examined a mass of caterpillars 



will be found huddled together 

 as if confessedly guilty. Us- 

 ually these will prove to be- 

 long to this or the following 

 species. The full-grown yel- 

 low-necked apple caterpillar 

 is about two inches long, with 

 a jet black head and the next 

 segment, often called the neck, 

 a bright orange-yellow, from 

 which the insect is named. 

 Down the middle of the back 

 runs a black stripe, and on 

 either side of the body are 

 three stripes of black alternat- 

 ing with four of yellow and the 

 body is thinly clothed with 

 long, soft white hairs. While 

 young -the caterpillars feed 



only on the under surfaces 

 FIG. 475. Yellow-necked apple cater- < ,1 i i ,1 , 



pillars assembled on twig in natural of the leaves, but as they be- 

 position from life, much reduced, come larger the whole leaf ex- 

 cept the stem, is devoured. They feed together in colonies, usually 

 starting at the tip of a limb, where the eggs were laid, and strip- 



*Datana ministra Drury. Family Notodontidce. See A. S. Packard, 

 Memoirs National Academy of Sciences, Vol. VII, p. 106; E. D. Sanderson, 

 Bulletin 139, N. H. Agr. Exp. Sta., p. 213. 



