ATTACKING THE LEAVES. 71 



b is shown the clay cell of this insect entire ; at c the same cut 

 through, showing how it is packed with these larvae. These 

 cells are sometimes attached to plants and sometimes con- 

 structed under the loose bark of trees. Insect-eating birds 

 also devour large numbers of canker-worms. 



These insects are not confined to the apple-tree: elm- 

 trees are frequently eaten bare by them ; they attack also 

 the plum, cherry, linden, and many other trees. They are 

 common in tlie Eastern and Western States, and also in some 

 parts of Canada. 



No. 27. The Fall Web-worm. 

 Hyphantria textor Harris. 



After the webs of the tent-caterpillars have been carefully 

 removed in the spring, and the fruit-grower is perhaps flatter- 

 ing himself with the idea that his troubles in this direction 

 are about over, towards the end of summer he may be mor- 

 tified to find his trees again adorned with webs enclosing 

 swarms of hungry caterpillars, devouring the foliage. This is 

 the fall web- worm, an insect totally different in all its stages 

 from the common tent-caterpillar. The moth of this species 

 deposits her eggs in broad patches on the under side of the 

 leaves, near the end of a branch, during the latter part of 

 May or early in June. These hatch in the month of June, 

 July, or August; during the earlier period in the warmer 

 districts, and later in the colder ones. 



As soon as the young larvae appear they begin to eat, and to 

 spin a web over themselves for protection. They devour only 

 the pulpy portion of the leaves, leaving the veins and skin of 

 the under surface untouched. While young, they are of a 

 pale-yellowish color, sparingly hairy, with two rows of black 

 marks along the body. When full grown, they are an inch 

 or more in length, and vary greatly in their markings some 

 examples are pale yellow or greenish, others much darker and 

 of a bluish-black hue. The head is black, and there is a broad 

 dusky or blackish stripe down the back ; along each side is a 



