HAIRY CATERPILLARS EATING THE LEAVES 293 



leaves woven up tightly in silk, and attached to the twig by a tough 

 strand of silk, which often follows the petiole of a leaf. Evergreens 

 are not attacked by this species. 



Within the nest are several hundred very small caterpillars. Before 

 foliage starts in the spring they come out and wander over the twigs 



P'iG. 433. — Larva of the Browntail 

 Moth. Original. 



Fig. 434. — Adult Browntail Moths. 

 Male above, female below. Original. 



near the nest. When growth starts, they begin at once feeding on the 

 foliage, often eating the leaves as fast as they unfold. 



The mature caterpillar is an uich and a quarter long, brownish in 

 general color, marked with a row of oblique white dashes down each 

 side of its back, and with two orange spots near the hind end, one be- 

 hind the other. 



Pupation takes place among the leaves. The adults emerge in 

 July. Their wings are pure white, and the body of the female bears a 

 tuft of brown hairs at the end of the abdomen. The moths fly at night 

 and often are seen in large numbers around lights. Eggs are laid on 

 the leaves and hatch early in August. The young caterpillars skeleton- 



