INJURIOUS INSECTS. 



83 



names as to cause no end of confusion, and it would be far 

 better to use only the scientific name, and then there would 

 be no doubt about the species. Abbott and Smith called it 

 the pale vaporer-moth, Harris called it the white-marked 

 orgyia or tussock-moth, Fitch called it the American vaporer- 

 moth, Packard called it the tussock-moth, and so on. 



The male moth. Fig. 5, has an expanse of wings of about 

 one inch and a quarter, and is of a dull grayish color, lighter 

 along the front edge of the fore wings, which also have 

 several wavy cross-lines of a blackish color 

 and a small white spot near the lower outer 

 (anal) angle. The hind wings are with- 

 out marks. The females are of a light ash 

 gray color, oval in outline and about three- 

 fourths of an inch long. They are without 

 wings, but have minute scales in their 

 place. 



Soon after emerging from their cocoons, 

 and while resting on them. Fig. 6, a, the males appear, and, 

 after pairing, the females deposit their eggs on the outside 

 of the cocoon. Professor Saunders states that each female 

 lays from 375 to 500 eggs in a cluster, — the smallest number 



counted being 375, 

 and the largest 500. 

 The eggs are white, 

 globular, slightly 

 flattened above, and 

 with a slight depres- 

 sion in the centre, 

 which is yellowish, 

 and there is also a 

 yellowish ring sur- 



Fis. 6. 



a, female resting on an empty cocoon; b, j-oung larva sus- 

 pended ; c, pupa of the female ; d, pupa of the male. 



roundiug the egg just below the flattened portion. To the 

 eye these eggs appear smooth, but under the microscope the 

 surface appears to be roughened. The diameter is about 

 one twenty-fifth of an inch. 



The eggs laid in the fall hatch the next spring, giving rise 

 to very small, dark-colored and very hairy caterpillars, which 

 drop themselves down from the leaves by a thread at the 



