ATTACKING THE LEAVES. 57 



while some of the insect-feeding birds devour them greedily, 

 especially the black-billed cuckoo. There are several species 

 of predaceous insects belonging to the Carabidae, or ground- 

 beetles, which are very active in their habits, and diligently 

 hunt for them and eat them, notably the Green Caterpillar- 

 hunter, Calosoma scrutator (Fabr.) (Fig. 47), and the Copper- 

 spotted Calosoma, Calosoma calidum (Fabr.) (Fig. 48). They 

 are sometimes destroyed in great numbers by a fungoid disease, 

 which arrests their progress when 

 about full grown, and the affected FIG. 49. 



specimens may be found attached to 

 fences and trees, retaining an ap- 

 pearance almost natural, but when 

 handled they will often be found so 

 much decayed as to burst with a 

 gentle touch. An Ichneumon fly, 

 Pimpla pedalis Cresson (Fig. 49), is a parasite on this larva, 

 while mites prey upon the eggs, identical with those which 

 feed on the eggs of the common tent-caterpillar. 



No. 22, The White-marked Tussock-moth. 



Orgyia leucostigma (Sm. & Abb.). 



The orchardist, walking among his fruit-trees after the 

 leaves have fallen, or during the winter months, will fre- 

 quently find a dead leaf or leaves fastened here and there to 

 the branches of his trees ; on examination, these will usually 

 be found to contain a gray cocoon, with in most instances a 

 mass of eggs fastened to it. On breaking into this mass, 

 which is brittle, it will be found to include from three hun- 

 dred to five hundred eggs, about one-twenty-fifth of an inch 

 in diameter, of a white color, nearly globular, and flattened 

 on the upper side. They are placed in three or four layers, 

 the interstices being filled with a frothy, gelatinous matter, 

 which makes them adhere securely together, and over all is 

 a thick coating of the same material, with a nearly smooth 

 grayish-white surface, of a convex form, which effectually 



