144 '^'^^^' YORK STATE MUSEUM 



tria text or Harris and it is therefore noticed under its proper name, 

 though in a preceding paper the author refers it to Hyphantria 

 c u n e a Drury. This latter insect may also occur in the State to some 

 extent but appears to be rarer than the other species. 



Life history. The moths fly from early in June till the middle of 

 August, at least, occurring in large numbers in the middle of June, the 

 early part of July and the first half of August, according to captures by Dr 

 H. G. Dyar at Poughkeepsie N. Y. Records kindly placed at my disposal 

 by Prof. G. H. Hudson of the normal school at Plattsburg, show that 

 moths appear in small numbers at that place from the 9th to the last of 

 May, that they are quite abundant throughout June, being most numerous 

 from the 8th to the loth and from the 14th to the 30th. They were also 

 present in'small numbers throughout July, occurring in larger numbers on 

 the 3d and 4th, and one individual was taken August 2. The caterpillars 

 begin to be noticed the latter part of June or early in July and are most 

 abundant in August. They were observed at Annandale, Dutchess co., 

 June 27, 1900 and at Buffalo, Erie co., July 3 in the same year. Thus in 

 the southern portions of the State the normal occurrence of at least a partial 

 second brood can hardly be questioned, but so far north as Plattsburg it 

 would appear from the record given b\' Professor Hudson that but one 

 generation a year is the usual rule. 



The yellowish or greenish eggs are deposited in clusters of several 

 hundred on the underside of a leaf and are frequently protected by adher- 

 ing white scales from the mother's bod\-. They hatch in warm weather 

 in from 7 to 10 days, the young caterpillars beginning at once to spin a web 

 under which they feed. This protecting web is extended to include more 

 and more foliage till finally a considerable proportion of a branch may be 

 inclosed. The caterpillars feed only on the upper portion of the leaf, 

 devouring only the softer parenchyma. The skeletonized leaves within the 

 nest soon dry, turn brown and they with the frass and cast skins of the 

 caterpillars, render the nests very unsightly objects. Occasionally the 

 caterpillars may be forced to leave their webs on account of a scanty food 



