AND II O K T I C U L T U R A L K E Ci I S T E U . 



PUBLISHED BY JOSEPH BRECK * CO., NO. SJ NOUTH MAKKET STREET, (Aoricultubal WAniiiouii.)-ALLEN PUTNAM, KOITOR. 



»-.X\.] 



BOSTON, WRDNESDAY EVIiNlNG, JUNE 1, 1842. 



[1«0. 4». 



N. E. FARMER. 



GEOMETERS, CANKER-WORMS, &e. 



riie coterpillars of the Geomtirtr of Linnaeus, 



li-iiit'imirers, as the term implies, or geometers, 



ii-»orriis, and loopers, liave r«fccived llioso seve- 



naiiirs from their peculiar manner of moving, in 



icli they socni to nieasurt or span over the 



und, Htcp by step, as they proceed. Most of 



ic caterpillars have only ten legs ; namely, 8i.\, 



cli are jointed and tapering, under the fore part 



ho ti.idy, and four fleshy proplegs, at the hinder 



reiiiity ; the three intermediate pairs of proplegs 



"anting. Consequently, in creeping, they 



1 lip the back while they bring forward the 



Jcr part of the body, and then, resting on their 



d legs, stretch out to their full length, in a 



igl.t line, before taking another step with their 



I Ir^js. Some of the geometers have twelve or 



teen legs ; but the additional proplegs ar* so 



t that the caterpillars cannot use them in 



^ping, and their motions are the same as those 



have only ten legs. Some caterpillars with 



teen legs, and wanting only the terminal pair 



roplegs, aro placed in this tribe on account of 



resemblance of their moths to those of the true 



meters. The latter live on trees and bushes, 



inobt of them undergo their transformations 



1 r>r in the ground, to reach which, by travel- 



au.iij; the branches and down the stem, nisuld 



lonj; and tedious journey to them, on account 



le deticicncy of their legs, and the slowness of 



r eait. Kut they are not reduced to this neces- 



for they have the power of letting themselves 



n from any height, by means of a silken thread, 



h tiiey spin from their mouths while falling. 



cncvcr they are disturbed, they make use of 



faculty, drop suddenly, and hang suspended, 



iic danger is past, after which they climb up 



n by the same thread. In order to do this, the 



i-norin bends back its head and catches hold 



e thread above its head with one of the legs 



e third segment, then raising its head it seizes 



thrcrid with its jaws and fore legs, and, by re- 



ing the same operations with tolerable rapidity, 



^oon reaches its former station on the tree. 



se a in-worms aro naked, or only thinly covcr- 



viUi very short down ; they are mostly smooth, 



sometimes have wart* or irregular projections 



heir backs. They change tiieir color usually 



h.'v grow older, and sometimes of one uniform 



r, n'-arly resembling the bark of the plants on 



;Ii tijoy are found. When not eating, many uf 



n rest on the two hindmost pairs of legs against 



side of a branch, with the body extended from 



branch, so that they might be mistaken for a 



r of tire tree ; and in this position they will of- 



remain for hours together. When about to 



sfo.ro, most of these insects descend from the 



its on which they live, and either bury them- 



B es in the ground, or conceal themselves on the 



s -cc, under a slight covering of leaves fastened 



kher with silken threads. Some make more 



alar cocoons, which, however, are very thin, and 



I generally more or less covered on the outside with 

 ' leaves. The cocoons of the European-tailed (ie- 

 I ometer (Ourn/jten/r sambuairia.) which lives on the 

 elder, and ol our chain-dotted (leomeler ((jtontrtrn 

 cattnarin,) which is found on tho wood-wax, arc 

 made with regular meshes, like network, through 

 which the insects may be seen. A very fow of 

 the span-worms fasten thenieclvea lo the stems of 

 plants, and are changed to chrysalids, which hang 

 suspended, without the protection of any outer cov- 

 ! ering. 



I In their perfected state, these insects are mostly 

 ; slender-bodied moths, with tapering altcnna-, which 

 are oflen feathered in the males. Their feelers are 

 short and slender; the tonguo is short and weak ; 

 the thorax is not crested ; the wings are large, 

 thin, and delicate — sometimes angular, and often 

 marked with one or two dark-colored oblique bands. 

 They generally rest with the wings slightly inclin- 

 ed and almost horizontal ; some with them extend- 

 ed, and others with the hind wings covered by the 

 upper pair. A very few carry their wings like the 

 skippers. Some of tho females arc wiilioul wings, 

 and are distinguished also by the oval and robust 

 form of their bodies. These moths are most ac- 

 tive in the night ; but some of them may be seen 

 [ flying in thickets during the day time. They are 

 very short-lived, and die soon after their eggs are 

 ■ aid. 



Those kinds whereof the females are wingless, 

 or have only very short, scale-like wings, and naked 

 attennse, while the males have large, entire wings, 

 and feathered or downy antenna-, seem to form a 

 distinct group, which may be named Hybernians 

 (Hi/berniuJa,) from the principal genus included 

 therein. The caterpillars have only ten legs, six 

 before and four behind ; and they undergo their 

 transformations in the ground. The insects called 

 canker-worms, in this country, are of this kind. 

 The moths, from which they are produced, belong 

 to the genus Anisoplcryi, (literally unequal wing,) 

 so named because in some species the wings in the 

 two sexes are very unequal in size, and in others 

 the females are wingless. In tho late Professor 

 Peck's "Natural History of the Canker-worm," 

 which was published among tho papers of the Mas- 

 sachusetts Society for Promoting Agriculture, and 

 obtained a prize from the Society, this insect is 

 called Phdlnnrt vernata, on account of its common 

 appearance in the spring, and also lo distinguish it 

 from the winter moth (Phnlanatn Chrimntobia bru- 

 mataj of Europe. In the male canker-worm moth 

 the antenna; have a very narrow, and almost downy 

 edging, on each side, hardly to be seen with the 

 naked eye. The feelers are minute, and do not 

 extend beyond the mouth. The tongue is not visi- 

 ble. The wings are large, very thin and silky ; 

 and, when the insect is at rest, the fore wings are 

 turned back, entirely cover the hind wings, and 

 overlap on their inner edges. The fore wings are 

 ash-colored, with a distinct whitish spot on the 

 front edge, near the tip ; they are crossed by two 

 jagged, whitish bands, along the sides of which 

 there are several blackish dots ; the outermost band 

 baa an angle near the front edge, within which 



there is a short, faint, blackish line ; and there is 

 a row of black dots ahmg the outer margin, close 

 to the fringe. The hind wings are pale a»h color- 

 ed, with a faint blackish dot near the middle. The 

 wings expand about one inch and a quarter. This 

 is the usual appearance of the male, in its most 

 perfect condition; by which it will be seen that it 

 closely resembles the Jlnisopltryi .T.scutnria of 

 Europe. Compared with tho luttrr, I find that our 

 canker-worm moth is rather smaller, the wings are 

 darker, proportionally shorter and more obtuse, Iho 

 white bands are less distinct, and are often entirely 

 wanting, in which case only the whiti.'ih spot ne»r 

 the tip remains, the hind wings are more dusky, 

 and the feelers are grey instead of being white. 

 Specimens, of a rather smaller size, are sometimes 

 found, resembling the figure ond description given 

 by Professor Peck, in which the whitish bands and 

 spot are wanting, and there are three interrupted 

 dusky lines across the fore wings, with an oblique 

 blackish dnsh near the tip. Perhaps they consti- 

 tute a different fpecies from that of the true canker 

 worm rnoth. Should this be the case, the latter 

 may be called .Inisopleryx pomelaria, or the Anis- 

 oplcryx of the orchard, while the former should re- 

 tain the name originally given to it by Professor 

 Peck. Tlie female is wingless, and its antennte 

 are short, slender, and naked. Its body approaches 

 to an oval form, but tapers, and is turned up behind. 

 It is dark ashcolored above, and grey beneath. 



It was fujPiBerly supposed that tho canker-worm 

 moths came out of the ground only in the spring. 

 It is now known that many of them rise in the au- 

 tumn and in the early part of the winter. In mild 

 and open winters I have seen them in every month 

 from October to March. They begin to make their 

 appearance after the first hard frosts in the antumn, 

 usually towards the end of October, and they con- 

 tinue to come forth, in greater or smaller numbers, 

 according to the mildness or severity of the wea- 

 ther after the frosts have begun. Their general 

 time of rising is in the spring, beginning about the 

 middle of March, but sometimes before, and some- 

 times after this time ; and they continue to come 

 forth for the space of about three weeks. It has 

 been observed that there are more females than 

 males among those that appear in the autumn and 

 winter, and that the males arc must abundant in 

 the spring. The sluggish females instinctively 

 make their way towards the nearest trees, and 

 creep slowly up their trunks. In a few days after- 

 wards they are followed by the winged and active 

 males, which flutter about and accompany them in 

 their ascent, during which the insects pair. Soon 

 after this, the females lay their eggs upon th« 

 branches of the trees, placing them on their ends, 

 close together in rows, forming clusters of from 

 sixty to one hundred, eggs or more, which is the 

 number usually laid by each female. The eggs 

 are glued to each other and to tho bark, by a grey- 

 ish varnish, which is impervious to water; and the 

 clusters are thus securely fastened in the forks of 

 the small branches, or close to the young twigs 

 and buds. Immediately after the insects have thus 

 provided for a succession of their kind, they begin 



