PACKAKD.J THE AMERICAN TENT-CATERPILLAR. 793 



above all, co-operation ainonj? those sntferiDg from these worms, would 

 enable iis to check their ravages. 



Plate LXVIX, Fig. 1, «., represents the caterpillar ofrernata; h, egg; c, 

 d, side and dorsal view of a segment of the caterpillar. Fig. 2, a, the male 

 moth ; b, the wingless female ; c, three joints of the antenna ; <?., dorsal 

 view of an abdominal segment. Figs. 3 and 4 the different stages of the 

 autumnal species {A. autiunuata). 



The AivrEEiCAN Tent-Caterpillar, Clisiocampa aviet'icana Harris. (Plate LXIX, 

 Figs. 5, 6. ) — Devourinf]; the foliage and forming couspicuons tent-lil^e webs or nests in the 

 forks of tlie branches ; a hirge, hairy caterpillar with a dorsal white stripe and numer- 

 ous fine, wrinkled black lines on a yellow ground, united below into a common black 

 band, with a blue spot on the side of each ring. 



At the same time that the canker-worms are breaking out of their egg- 

 shells, the young tent-caterpillars are following suit. This occurs usu- 

 ally about the 1st of May, in the region of Boston, or a month or six 

 weeks earlier in the latitude of Saint Louis, just as the leaves are un- 

 folding. At this time, if one will examine closely the conspicuous 

 bunches of eggs on the twigs of the tree, he may be able to seethe little 

 caterpillars clustering about on the outside of the egg-mass. When 

 hatched, they have large heads, and the body is provided with long, 

 scattered hairs. They at once betake themselves to the opening buds, 

 congregating at noon-time, when the sun is hot among the axils of the 

 branches, there forming a tent of silk for protection from the sun and 

 rain. As they increase in size, they make extended journeys over dif- 

 ferent branches, laying pathways of silk wherever they go. The tent 

 or nest increases in size until it becomes the conspicuous, but by no 

 means ornamental, object so noticeable on the grounds of slovenly farm- 

 ers early in June. Tlje caterpillars become fully grown by the middle 

 of June. Then they spin dense, tough, white cocoons under loose bark, 

 or under boards and rails of fences, and the moth appears about the 1st 

 of July. 



I once experimented with a worm to see how persevering it would be 

 in spinning its cocoon. After one cocoon was finished I removed it, 

 when by another day a new one was spun like the other. Upon my re- 

 moving this, it spun a third one which was thin and slight, the supply 

 of silk having been exhausted. The silk is secreted by two glands one- 

 half longer than the body when drawn out, but which are folded up 

 beneath the digestive canal, and open out on the under lip. The silk is 

 fluid, becoming solid on exposure to the air. 



The American tent-caterpillar is about two inches in length, with 

 long, rather dense hairs. Along the back runs a white stripe, accompa- 

 nied by numerous fine, wrinkled black lines on a yellow ground, united 

 below into a common black line. On the side of each segment of the body 

 is a conspicuous blue spot. 



The moths hide by day about the garden, and Tvhen the lamps are 

 lighted, in they dart and tumble about on the table under the light, in 

 an insensate way, as if frightened out of their wits. So peculiar is their 

 mode of entering a lighted room, that one can usually tell what moth 

 is coming by its peculiar, noisy mode of entrance. The moth is reddish- 

 brown, very thick-bodied, clothed in a thick coat of long hairs, and with 

 short, broad, strong wings, as it flies swiftly. It is reddish-brown, 

 with two oblique, dirty-white lines on the fore wings, which expand 

 when outstretched, about an inch and a half. Early in July the female 

 lays her eggs, in bunches of from three hundred to four hundred. They 

 are placed side by side, in a mass surrounding the twigs (Plate LXIX, Fig. 

 5, c), and after they are thus stuck on so as to surround the branch like 



