104 THE PESTS OF THE FARM. 



dinal 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 va- 

 riegated with fine intermingled black and yellow lines, which are 

 lost at last in the general dusky color of the under-side of the body ; 

 on the top of the eleventh ring is a small blackish and hairy wart, 

 and the whole body is very sparingly clothed with short and soft 

 hairs, rather thicker and longer upon the sides than elsewhere. 

 From the first to the middle of June they begin to leave the trees 

 upon which they have hitherto lived in company, separate from 

 each other, wander about awhile, and finally get into some crevice 

 or other place of shelter, and make their cocoons. These are of a 

 regular long oval form, composed of a thin and veiy loosely woven 

 web of silk, the meshes of which are filled with a thin paste, that 

 on drying is changed to a yellow powder, like flour of sulphur in 

 appearance. Some of the caterpillars, either from weakness or some 

 other cause, do not leave their nests with the rest of the swarm, 

 but make their cocoons there, and when the webs are opened these 

 cocoons may be seen intermixed with a -mass of blackish grains, like 

 gunpowder, excreted by the caterpillars during their stay. From 

 fourteen to seventeen days after the insect has made its cocoon and 

 changed to a chrysalis, it bursts its chrysalis skin, forces its way 

 through the wet and softened end of its cocoon, and appears in the 

 winged or miller form. 



The moth of the lackey-caterpillar is of a rusty or reddish brown 

 color, more or less mingled with gray on the middle and base of 

 the fore-wings, which, besides, are crossed by two oblique, straight, 

 dirty white lines. It expands from one inch and a quarter, to one 

 inch and a half, or a little more. The moths appear in great num- 

 bers in July, flying about and often entering houses by night. At 

 this time they lay their eggs, selecting the wild cherry, in prefer- 

 ence to all other trees, for this purpose, and, next to these, apple- 

 trees. These insects, because they are the most common and most 

 abundant in all parts of our country, and have obtained such noto- 

 riety that in common language they are almost exclusively known 

 among us by the name of the caterpillars, are the worst enemies Oi 

 the orchard. Whore proper attention has not been paid to the 

 destruction of them, they prevail to such an extent as almost en- 

 tirely to strip the apple and cherry trees of their foliage, by their 

 attacks continued during the seven weeks of their life in the cater- 

 pillar form. The trees, in those orchards and gardens where they 



