THE LEPIDOPTERA 



277 



bran has been moistened by the molasses and fruit juice sufficiently to 

 make it attractive, and also bears a little of the poison. The amount of 

 water to add to obtain this condition must be determined by testing the 

 mixture at intervals to see that the bran is dry enough to spread, and 

 also that it has been able to take up the other materials. In any case the 

 mixture should stand for several hours before use, to allow the bran time 

 to take up the other constituents. The larger quantity given above is 

 sufficient to spread broadcast over several acres. 



The size of the family Noctuidse and the abundance of its members 

 in all parts of the country, as well as the various methods of feeding 

 present in the group make it one of the most destructively important 

 families of Lepidoptera in the United States. 



Family Arctiidae (The Tiger Moths). The Arctiids are mainly medium-sized 

 moths, often brilliantly colored. Most of the group are not serious pests, but 

 individuals, particularly in their larval stage, are often seen. Many of these 

 caterpillars are quite densely and uniformly covered with long hairs and are 

 sometimes called " woolly bears." One of them often seen crawling about in the 



FIG. 285. FIG. 286. 



FIG. 285. Isabella Tiger Moth (Isia Isabella S. and A.), slightly reduced. (Original.) 

 FIG. 286. Hickory Tiger Moth (Halisidota caryce Harr.), natural size. (From 

 Britton, Seventh Rept. Ent. Conn. Agr. Exp. Sta. 1907.) 



fall is covered with reddish-brown hairs at each end, and black ones in the middle, 

 and is sometimes given the particular name " hedgehog caterpillar." The adult 

 (Fig. 285), not often seen, is an orange-buff moth, its hind wings tinged with 

 pinkish, and spreads a little over two inches. It is called the Isabella Tiger Moth 

 (Isia isabella S. & A.). Another caterpillar, the " salt-marsh caterpillar" (Estig- 

 mene acrcea Dru.) has a blackish head and body, well covered with long, tufted, 

 brownish hairs. The adult is about the size of the Isabella Tiger Moth, the male 

 having white fore wings spotted here and there with black, while the female has 

 all its wings white and spotted. The abdomen of both sexes is orange. The 

 Hickory Tiger Moth (Halisidota caryce Harr., Fig. 286) is quite common in the 

 northeastern United States and Canada, west to Minnesota and south to North 

 Carolina and Ohio. The larvae, which occur in the summer and fall, feed on 

 many kinds of trees and are sometimes rather injurious. At first tjiey feed in 

 company but during the latter part of their larval life they scatter. The full- 



