270 CERASUS VIKGINIANA. 
Propagation. The Virginian cherry is usually propagated from seeds, which 
may be treated, in all respects, like those of the Cerasus vulgaris. 
Insects. It has often been remarked that the leaves of the wild cherry are 
more subject to the attacks of caterpillars, than those of any other tree. Among 
those which are regarded as its worst enemy, are the American lackey-caterpil- 
lars, Clisiocampa americana, of Harris. The eggs, from which they are hatched, 
are placed around the ends of the branches, forming a wide kind of ring or brace- 
let, consisting of three or four hundred eggs, in the form of short cylinders stand- 
ing close together, on their ends, and covered with a thick coat of brownish, 
water-proof varnish. The caterpillars come forth with the unfolding of the 
leaves. The first signs of their activity appear in the formation of a little angu- 
lar web or tent, somewhat resembling a spider's web, stretched between the forks 
of the branches, a little below the cluster of eggs. Under the shelter of these 
tents, in making which, they all work together, the caterpillars remain concealed 
at all times, when not engaged in eating. In crawling from twig to twig, and from 
leaf to leaf, they spin from their mouths a slender silken thread, which is a clue 
to conduct them back to their tents ; and as they go forth and return in files, one 
after another, their pathways, in time, become carpeted with silk, which serves 
to render their footing secure during their frequent and periodical journeys in 
various directions, to and from their common habitation. As they increase in 
size and age, they enlarge their tent, surrounding it, from time to time, with new 
layers or webs, till at length it attains a diameter of eight or ten inches. They 
come out together, at certain hours, to feed, and all retire at once, when their 
regular meals are finished: during bad weather, however, they fast, and do not 
venture from their shelter at all. When fully grown, they measure about two 
inches in length. They may be known by their black heads, and a whitish line 
extending along the top of the back from one end to the other, on each side of 
which, in a yellow ground, are numerous short and fine crinkled lines, that form 
a broad, longitudinal, black stripe, or rather a row of long black spots, one on 
each ring, in the middle of each of which is a small blue spot ; below this, is a 
narrow, wavy yellow line, and lower still, the sides are variegated with fine, 
intermingled, black and yellow lines, which are lost at last in the general dusky 
colour of the under side of the body : on the top of the eleventh ring, is a small, 
blackish, hairy wart, and the whole body is very sparingly clothed with soft, 
short hairs, rather longer and thicker upon the sides than elsewhere. At the 
age of about seven weeks, they begin to quit the trees, separate from each 
other, wander about for a while, and finally secrete themselves in some crevice 
or other place of shelter, and make their cocoons. These are of a regular, oblong- 
oval form, composed of thin, and very loosely woven webs of silk, the meshes of 
which are filled with a thin paste. From fourteen to seventeen days after the 
insects have spun, the chrysalides burst their skins, force their way through the 
wet and moistened ends of the cocoons, and appear in the winged or miller form. 
These moths are of a rusty or reddish-brown colour, more or less intermixed with 
gray on the middle and base of the fore-wings, which, besides are crossed by two 
oblique, straight, dirty-white lines. They expand from one inch and a quarter, 
to one inch and a half, or a little more and appear in Massachusetts, in great 
numbers, in July, flying about, and often entering houses by night, at which 
period they lay their eggs. Many of the caterpillars, however, are unable to 
finish their transformations, by reason of weakness, especially those which are 
unable to leave with the rest of the swarm, but make their cocoons within the tent 
Most of these will be found to have been preyed upon by little maggots living 
upon the fat within their bodies, and finally changing to small, four-winged 
ichneumon wasps, which, in due time, pierce a hole in the cocoons of their vie- 
