142 



INSECTS AFFECTING THE ORANGE. 



appears to have thrown across its back a green cloth surmounted by 

 a purple saddle. The fringing hairs along the sides of the larva have 

 irritating properties like the concealed nettling hairs of Lagoa. 

 The cocoons are short, oval, almost globular, flattened against the 



branch to which they are at- 

 tached, and are of the same 

 tough, parchment-like material 

 and brown color as in Lagoa. 

 They are usually placed in con- 

 cealment, often against the main 

 trunk of the tree, at or near the 

 surface of the ground. The lar- 

 va before pupating cuts a circu- 

 lar flap at the end, making an 

 opening nearly equal to the en- 

 tire diameter of the cocoon, 

 through which the moth makes 

 its escape by pushing open the door from within. 

 The moth has a wooly body and legs of rich maroon color, with the 

 ^ base of the abdomen and the under wings of 

 lighter brown. The scales of the fore-wing lie 

 flat and have a silken sheen upon the prominent 

 veins and margin, while in the depressions be- 

 tween the veins they stand erect, as in velvet, 

 giving an embossed appearance to the wing. 

 The upper surface of the fore-wing bears sev- 

 eral dots of pale yellow, each consisting of a few opalescent scales. 

 The dots are arranged in two pairs, one at the base and the other at 

 the apex of the wing, with a single minute fleck placed half-way be- 

 tween the pairs. 

 Parasite. The larva is destroyed by a Microgaster. 



FIG. QQ.Empretia stimulea: a, moth (Original); 6, 

 larva (after Riley). 



FIG. 61. Empretia stimulea^ 

 cocoon. (Original.) 



THE HAG-MOTH CATERPILLAR. 



(Phobetron pithecium. Smith and Abbot.) 

 [Figs. 62 and 63.] 



This insect receives its name from the curious hairy appendages which 

 cover the back and project from the sides of the larva, and have a back- 

 ward twist, like locks of dishevelled hair. These are, in fact, fleshy 

 hooks, covered with feathery, brown hairs, among which are longer, 

 black, stinging hairs. The larva is 15 mm (f- Q inch) long and has an oval 

 body, over which, however, the flattened and closely applied appendages 

 form a nearly square shield. The cocoon (Fig. 63) is almost spherical, like,, 

 that of the Saddle-back caterpillar, and is defended by the hairy ap- 

 pendages which the larva in some way contrives to leave upon the out- 



