POISONOUS INSECTS AND THEIR RELATIVES 429 



until the adult caterpillar becomes two inches or more in 

 length. Moreover, the full-grown caterpillar differs very 

 much in appearance from the young ones. It is now vivid 

 green in color and the spines are green but tipped with 

 black. There are also two conspicuous lines along each 

 side of the body, the lower one of which is white and the 

 upper red (Plate VIII). 



Like the flannel-moth caterpillar, the spines are hollow 

 and contain a poisonous substance that causes irritation 

 when the tips of the spines penetrate the skin. This 

 caterpillar is prob- 

 ably most abun- 

 dant and most 

 often seen of any 

 of the nettling 

 species. At least, 

 it has been sent to 

 the author more 

 frequently than 



any of the Others. FIG. 148. The buck moth (H.maia). (X 1.) 



The larva of the 



buck moth, Hemileuca maia, is also quite notorious as 

 a stinging caterpillar. The moth is a very handsome 

 one with a wing expanse of two to over two and one-half 

 inches. The wings are thinly clothed with pinkish- 

 brown scales except for a wide creamy-white band 

 running crosswise of each wing (Fig. 148). The female 

 deposits 100 to 200 eggs in a ring around a small branch 

 (Fig. 149). They remain here all winter, but hatch early 

 in the spring, sometimes before the buds break. The 

 caterpillars are gregarious and in traveling are proces- 

 sional, following one another mostly in single file. They 



