THE TENT CATERPILLAR. 



(Malacosoma americana Fab.) 



HENRY T. PERNALD, PH.D., STATE NURSERY INSPECTOR. 



This was an unusually common insect in IMassachusetts 

 during 1913 and 1914, its whitish webs being present in large 

 numbers during the spring and summer months. A few of the 

 webs may be seen every year, but sometimes the insect becomes 

 very abundant for two or three years, after which for some 

 time it is only occasionally noticed. The caterpillar feeds on 



the leaves of the wdld cherry and apple by preference, though 

 it is sometimes met with on the peach, cultivated cherry, haw- 

 thorn and other thorns. 



The eggs are laid by the adult moth, usually in July, in 

 bands around the smaller twigs of the trees the caterpillars 

 feed upon, and are then covered by a dark brown shiny sub- 

 stance which protects them from the weather. These egg 

 masses remain in this condition until the following spring, 

 hatching abovit as, or just before, the leaf buds open. The 

 tiny caterpillars crawl from the egg cluster where they hatched 



