108 DESTRUCTIVE INSECTS. 



nor so large as a cambric needle, but it continues 

 to increase constantly in size for 

 several weeks, until two inches 

 long and a quarter of an inch in 

 diameter. It then spins a co- 

 coon and passes to the pupa state. 

 In the latter part of summer, it 

 comes out a yellowish brown mil- 

 ler, lays its eggs and dies. The 

 eggs are deposited in cylinders 

 or rings, containing three to five 

 hundred each, encircling the 

 smaller branches, and usually 

 within a few inches of the extre- 

 mity. The accompanying figure 

 (fig. 23,) represents one of these 

 Fig; 23. masses of eggs of the natural 



size. They remain through winter, protected from 

 the weather by a vesicular water-proof varnish, and 

 hatch in spring, as just stated. Each collection of 

 eggs, makes a nest of caterpillars. 



One nest is enough to defoliate a large branch, 

 and when several are on a tree, the size and qual- 

 ity of the fruit is seriously lessened. 



The best mode, incomparably, for their destruc- 

 tion, is to cut off the small branches which hold the 

 eggs during autumn or winter, and commit them 

 to the fire. The most convenient implement is a 

 long pole, armed with a pair of clipping-shears, 



