INSF.CTS AFFECTING PARK AND WOODLAND TREES 



311 



follows. The moths begin to issue from the ground late in September and 



early in Oclt)bcr in the Central or Eastern States. The males almost 



always appear first, as stated by Dr Riley, and in some instances emergence 



has been retarded a whole year. The eggs are deposited in small masses 



encircling twigs, the smallest number in one being 70 and ranging from that 



to 200. The deposition of the egg has been describctl by Dr Riley as 



follows : 



Holding fimily by all her feet, the female stations herself upon a twig, 

 with her head usually toward the end. She then stretches her abdomen to 

 its fullest extent and fastens the first egg ; another is then attached by its 

 side, and so on, the body reaching round the twig without letting go the 

 feit. In this manner, governed by the thickness of the twig, an irregular, 

 somewhat spiral ring is formed and others added, until toward the last the 

 abdomen is raised and the ovipositor brought up between the legs. The 

 lower or first deposited ones incline so as to almost lie on their sides. 



Dr Lintner states that the eggs are firmly united to one another and 

 to the twig by a glutinous matter in which they are enveloped. This sub- 

 stance forms rings of black around the points of attachment of the eggs to 

 the twig, and at the places of union between the eggs it assumes a reddish 

 color. The young larvae hatch the latter part of May. Dr Lintner records 

 the appearance of some on the 27th in 1869, and adds that their escape from 

 the shell was, without a single exception, from the apex through a regular 

 elliptic opening eaten by the larvae. The translucent or brownish yellow 

 Qgg shells remain on the stems. The caterpillars feed ravenously. Those 

 reared by Dr Lintner attained maturity July 17, entered the ground soon 

 after and by the 22d, one had transformed to the pupa and the last by 

 Aug. I. 



Food plants. This species has been recorded by Dr Riley as feeding 

 on the leaves of our different oaks, and he adds that the larvae " are some- 

 times quite abundant on the young post, black and red oaks along the Iron 

 mountain region." He also found them abundant on the scrub willow, 

 Salix humilis in Northern Illinois and on a rosebush, and he states 

 that it occurred on the common hazel, while Glover has recorded it as 

 living on the wild black cherry. Dr Lintner states that this species prob- 



