614 



INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD 



While young the caterpillars feed only on the under 

 surfaces of the leaves, but as they become larger the whole leaf, 

 except the stem, is devoured. They feed together in colonies, 

 usually starting at the tip of a limb, where the eggs were laid, 

 and stripping the foliage toward the base, and are often found 

 clustered together in a solid mass. If the limb is jarred or a 

 caterpillar touched, it at once assumes a position characteristic 

 of this genus, throwing the head and tail in the air with a jerk 

 r.*,-. -, and clinging to the limb by 



^^ the abdominal prolegs, as 



jS jgf shown in Fig. 468. The wings 



ffiMflLr of the adult moth expand 



l^^^^i about two inches and are a 



reddish-brown color, while the 

 head and thorax are chestnut 

 brown. The fore- wings have 

 three to five transverse lines, 

 one or two spots, and the 

 outer margin of a dark color, 

 and the hind-wings are pale 

 ye' lo wish without markings. 



Life History. The winter 

 is passed in the pupal stage 

 in the soil, from which the 

 moths emerge from May to 

 July. The round, white eggs 

 are laid on the leaves in masses of 75 to 100, and hatch during 

 mid-summer. The caterpillars feed during the late summer and 

 become full grown in four or five weeks, when they enter the 

 earth for from 2 to 4 inches and there transform to naked 

 brown pupa?, without making any cocoons. There is but one 

 generation in the Northern and Middle States. 



The species occurs throughout the Northern and Middle States 

 east of the Rocky mountains, and in the far South there seem to 

 be no records of the species. Though most common on apple, it 

 also feeds on pear, cherry, quince, and plum, and on hickory, 



FIG. 469. The yellow-necked apple 

 caterpillar (Datana ministra Dru.): 

 mature larvae and moth natural size. 



