Insect Enemies and Allies 



209 



U. S. D. A. 



FIG. 162. Egg masses of the apple-tree tent caterpillar. Twigs bearing them 

 are easily distinguished in winter, and they should then be clipped off and 

 burned. 



pillar eating one or two leaves daily. The peculiar and How they 

 interesting thing about these caterpillars is that instead 

 of living independently of one another they live in col- 

 onies, as ants and bees do. To shelter the colony, they 

 build a tent which resembles a spider's web among the 

 branches. The mother moth lays a cluster of about 

 one hundred and fifty eggs on a twig (Fig. 162). The 

 larvae hatched from such a cluster remain together as a 

 colony and build the silky tent into which they go for 

 protection (Fig. 163). 



Like other biting insects tent caterpillars can be killed Remedies 

 by spraying the trees with arsenical poison. But two 

 other methods are used : one is to destroy the colonies 



