134 



AGRICULTURE FOR BEGINNERS 



toward the ground on a silken thread of its own making 

 (Fig. 126). 



In early summer the larvae burrow within the earth, 

 pupate, and later emerge as adults (Fig. 127, ^/and e). You 

 observe the peculiar difference between the wingless female, 

 d, and the winged male, e. It is the habit of this wingless 



FIG. 127. THE SPRING CANKERWORM 

 a, egg mass ; 'b, egg, magnified ; c, larva ; d, female moth ; <?, male moth 



female to crawl up the trunk of some near-by tree in order 

 to deposit her eggs upon the twigs. These eggs hatch into 

 the greedy larvae that do so much damage to our orchards. 

 Nearly all of the common birds feed freely upon the 

 cankerworm, and benefit the orchard in so doing. The 

 chickadee is perhaps the most useful. " A recent writer is 

 very positive that each chickadee will devour on an average 



