THE LEPIDOPTERA 



259 



place, and in later years the injury will show as the fork becomes an 

 important one, in the form of a splitting at that point under the weight of 

 the branches and fruit beyond. 



The Forest Tent-caterpillar (Malacosoma disstria Hbn.) is also a 

 native of North America. It greatly resembles the last species, both 

 in appearance and in some of its habits, but though occasionally found 

 feeding on some of the same food-plants, it appears to prefer the oak, 

 maple and other forest and shade-trees. 



The adult (Fig. 261) is of about the same size and general appearance 

 as the Apple-tree Tent-caterpillar, but the general color is lighter brown 

 and the lines or bands across the fore wings are darker, instead of lighter 



FIG. 261. 'Fio. 262. FIG. 263. 



FIG. 261. Adult. Forest Tent-caterpillar (Malacosoma disstria Hbn.), natural size. 



(Original.) 



FIG. 262. Egg belt of Forest Tent-caterpillar, natural size. (Original.) 



FIG. 263. Full-grown larva of the Forest Tent-caterpillar. About two-thirds natural 



size. (Original.) 



than the ground color. The egg belts (Fig. 262) are similar but quite 

 squarely cut off at their ends instead of being rounded down to the twig: 

 the caterpillar (Fig. 263) has a row of rather oval white spots instead of 

 a white stripe along its back, and its sides are noticeably light blue, 

 with two broken, longitudinal, yellow lines. The caterpillars make 

 no tents but scatter after hatching. Otherwise the life history, time 

 spent in the different stages and the periods of the year during which 

 these occur are the same in both species. 



Control. Where the caterpillars can be reached by sprays, control is 

 comparatively simple, as with the Apple-tree Tent-caterpillar. In 

 forests, however, where large trees are stripped of their foliage, this 

 method is rarely practicable. Destruction of the egg-belts is of value, 

 but these can seldom be reached in any numbers, being usually high up 

 on the small twigs. Jarring the trees where these are small enough for 

 this, will cause many of the caterpillars to drop to the ground, and by the 

 use of sticky or cotton bands they may be prevented from crawling 

 back again. The caterpillars frequently cluster in large numbers on the 

 trunks of the trees and at such times, spraying these clusters with any 



