STATE POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. Ill 



protection they advance side by side, like a little army, though 

 they beat a hasty retreat and huddle together beneath the web 

 when disturbed in any way. When they have eaten all but the 

 skeleton of the first leaf, they draw another into the web and 

 repeat the process at intervals during the late summer. They 

 feed slowly, however, and spend so much time spinning their 

 web that they do comparatively little damage to the trees in fall, 

 and they are still very small when cold weather comes on ; those 

 removed from the winter nests being only one-fourth of an inch 

 in length. In the fall the young caterpillars weave additional 

 layers of silk about their retreat, fastening it securely to the 

 branch by the web and pass the winter thus in colonies of one 

 hundred and fifty to three hundred. These nests, which look 

 like a cluster of dead leaves hanging from the branches, are 

 readily seen after the leaves have fallen. This is a very unusual 

 yet most commendable habit in a caterpillar pest, for they can be 

 killed, hundreds at a time, simply by destroying the nests in 

 which the colonies hibernate. Early in the spring the young 

 caterpillars emerge from their winter nests and feed upon the 

 opening leaf buds. Until about the middle of June they feed 

 greedily upon the leaves, completely stripping the trees where 

 they are numerous. When full grown the caterpillars are about 

 one and one-half inches long. They are dark brown with a 

 sprinkling of orange. Long fine reddish brown hairs cover the 

 body, and a row of conspicuous white hairs runs along each side. 

 Like the caterpillars of the tussock and gypsy moths, thev bear 

 bright red tubercles on the top of the sixth and seventh abdom- 

 inal segments. 



Were the caterpillars to be feared onlv for their ravages upon 

 orchard and other trees, the situation would be alarming enough, 

 but not less serious is the physical discomfort experienced by 

 people living in infested districts. When the minutely barbed 

 hairs of the caterpillar come in contact with the skin they cause 

 an eruption similar to and in manv cases worse than ivy poison- 

 ing. These hairs are brittle and where the caterpillars are 

 numerous few people are likely to escape as the caterpillars drop 

 from the branches and creep about, even entering the houses. 

 Direct contact with the insects themselves is not necessar}', how- 

 ever, for when the caterpillars shed their skins, which they do 



