608 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD 



containing 7 per cent kerosene, whale-oil soap 1 pound to 5 or 6 

 gallons, dilute miscible oils, or tobacco extracts will destroy 

 the aphides. The spray should be applied with some force, so as 

 to hit all of the aphides and to penetrate the hairy terminals of 

 the apple. Where trees are being sprayed with Bordeaux mixture, 

 whale-oil soap or tobacco extracts may be added to it, to save 

 separate spraying. 



The Tent Caterpillar * 



From the earliest times the webs of the tent caterpillar have 

 adorned the neglected, wayside apple and cherry trees in all 

 parts of the country east of the Rocky Mountains. On the 

 Pacific Coast a nearly related species has very similar habits. The 

 adult moths are common in July in the North or in May in the 

 Gulf States. They are stout-bodied, of a reddish-brown color, 

 with two nearly parallel white bands extending obliquely across 

 the fore-wings. The females have a wing expanse of about 

 1 inches, while the males are smaller and may be distinguished 

 by their feathery antennas. The sexes soon mate and the females 

 deposit their eggs about five or six weeks after apples blossom. 

 The egg-mass is from one-half to three-quarters inch long and 

 forms a grayish-brown, knot-like band around the twig on which 

 it is laid, closely resembling the bark in color. Each "mass con- 

 tains about 200 eggs, placed on end, packed closely together and 

 covered with a light-brown, frothy glue, which gives a tough, 

 smooth, glistening surface to the whole mass. The little cater- 

 pillars hatch just as the leaf buds are expanding in the spring. 

 Ofttimes they emerge before the leaf buds have expanded suf- 

 ficiently to furnish any food, in which case they satisfy their 

 hunger with the glutinous covering of the egg-mass, spinning a 

 thin web over it. Soon they are able to bore into the buds and 

 a web is commenced at the nearest crotch. Wild cherry and 



* Malacasoma americana Fab. Family Lasiocompidce. See A. L. Quaint- 

 ance, Circular 98, Bureau of Entomology, U. S. Dept. Agr.; V. H. Lowe, 

 Bulletin 152, N. Y. Agr. Exp. Sta.; E. P. Felt, 14th Report State Ent. N. Y., 

 pp. 177-190. 



