THE GOOSEBERRY CATERPILLAR. 499 



it with holes, which soon enlarge until the leaf 

 is destroyed. This not only ruins the crop of fruit 

 of the present year, if the attack is made while it is 

 growing, but it prevents the ripening of the wood, 

 and thus destroys the prospect of a crop for the 

 next year. Various methods have been resorted to 

 for preventing their ravages ; as catching the flies 

 when they emerge from the ground in the spring. 

 But this is impracticable. Others have picked them 

 from the leaves, or removed the earth while the 

 pupae were in the soil ; or have covered it with 

 some material, like fresh tan, which was obnoxious 

 to them. 



The powder of white hellebore is understood to 

 be a most effectual remedy if dusted upon the 

 under part of the leaf when the caterpillar is at 

 work. Its efficacy depends, in a great measure, 

 upon the dryness of the powder. If it has absorbed 

 moisture, it is sure to be inoperative. It should, 

 therefore, be thoroughly dried before the fire pre- 

 vious to use. 



(2) The SwaUoiv-tailed Moth — Ourapterijoo sam- 

 hucaria : Linn. This infests the leaves of the 

 apricot, and the gooseberry among fruit-bearing 

 plants. The caterpillar is brown in color, and is 

 two and one-half inches in length. On the sixth 

 and eighth segments of the body are two tubercles 

 each. The terminus is divided into two points. 

 Attached to the first three segments of the body are 



