ENTOMOLOGIST AND BOTANIST. 



261 



we have estimated that the niimber of distinct 

 si)pcies of insects to be found within tlic limits 

 ol' the United States amounts to at least tliirty 

 thousand; and from what has been said above, 

 as to tlie labor and expense of describing and 

 figuring- lialf a rnilUon of species, we may easily, 

 1)}' the simple Rule of Three, form a pretty cor- 

 roct idea of how much labor and money it would 

 require to describe and figure even as small a 

 number as thirty thousand. 



Terhaps, in thus bringing to the test of hard dry 

 facts and figures the rose-colored dreams of one 

 whom we have learned to esteem as a conscientious 

 Icllow-laliorer, we shall be accused of being a kind 

 ofentomological Mr. Gradgiind. Perhaps it w\\l 

 lie said that, by throwing cold water on (he 

 brilliant aspirations of many an ardent young- 

 naturalist, we are in efl'ect injuring the very 

 cause wliich we profess to serve, and that we 

 are a matter-of-fact cynical calculator, wholly 

 devoted to the dull unpoetical Eeal, aud careless 

 of the bi'autifiil I'lhcrial Ideal. Well, " we are 

 not careful o\(.ri]inrli aliout such things;" but 

 in (bus cousidi-riiig the improbability of any such 

 r(^sult ever being attained, as that which Mr. 

 IJntner dreamed of, we nevertheless admire the 

 spirit which gave birth to the thought, and only 

 wish that more of our entomologists were im- 

 bued with the same. It is good sometimes to 

 seek after the Unattainable, aud though we may 

 not always reach the goal, and the distance 

 gained in advance be but a few inches, yet at 

 every step we are so much fnrther on tlie road 

 towards perfection. 



As the very term "species"' is arbitrary, and 

 many an one is ground out from what upon 

 closer study and better knowledge would prove 

 to be but a variety, we are fully of the opinion 

 that the man or woman who, for the first time, 

 gives to the world the complete history of any 

 one insect in its four stages, does infinitely more 

 for the cause of EiUomoloi^) than the person 

 who publishes dry «lr>(ri|iti(>iis (jf a dozen sup- 

 liosed species. In a privalc letter to us, that 

 well-known and experienced entomolog-ist, P. 

 ( ;. Zeller, of Stetten Prussia, says : " I care very 

 little for the honor of being the author of a new 

 species ; it is far more meritorious aud honorable 

 to correctly observe and describe the natural 

 history of a single species, than to describe — 

 often with ridiculous and meaningless nanus — 

 two dozen species after the reckless fashion of 

 some authors;" and we cannot more fully en- 

 dorse the sentiment expressed by Mr. Lintner— 

 however fanciful and impvactieable the project — 

 than 1))' commending to careful consideration 

 this opiuion of one of the leading entomologists 

 of the day. 



THE TENT-CATERPILLAR OP THE FOREST. 



(Clisiocampa sylvatica, Harr.) 



^' %UI/' 



Colors— (a) brown; (6 and c) cream-color; (rf) rust-brown. 



In accordance -with the promise made in our 

 1:1 st number (p. 245), we here give a brief ac- 

 count of the Tent- caterpillar of the Forest 

 {Clisiocampa sylvatica). We do so the more 

 willingly because, as we shall presently show, 

 this insect is very generally confounded with the 

 common American Tent-caterpillar (CI. ameri- 

 cana, Harr.), and because much confusion and 

 uncertainty -with regard to its haliils exist in tlie 

 minds of most farmers. In nianv parts of Mis- 

 souri it has been very desd-nctiveiliii-ing the past 

 two sunmtiers, and we Ikim' had mooiI opportuni- 

 ties to closely and carefully slu(l\ its haliits. The 

 species was first described by the gri'at jNlassa- 

 chusetts entomologist. Dr. Harris, \\ ho lUKiuali- 

 fledly states that it lives in communities laider a 

 common web or tent; but with this exception 

 gives a very clear and truthful account of it.* 



ITS NATURAL HISTORY. 



The egg-mass from wliich the Tent-caterpillar 

 of the Forest hatches (Fig. 165 a, showing it after 

 the yoimg larvte have escaped) may at once be 

 distinguished from that of the common Tent- 

 caterpillar by its being of a uniform diameter, 

 and docked ofl;' squarely at each end. It is usu- 

 ally composed of about 4(»() eggs, the number in 

 five masses which we counted ranging from 380 

 to 410. Each of the eggs composing- tliis mass is 

 of a cream-white color, o.ni imh \mv^ and 0.025 

 inch wide, narrow and rounded at the attached 

 end or base, gradually enlarging towards the top, 

 where it becomes slightly smaller (Fig. 165 d), 

 aud abruptly terminates with a prominent cir- 

 cular rim on the outside, and a sunken spot in 

 tlie centre (c) . These eggs are deposited in circles, 

 the female moth stationing herself, for this pur- 

 pose, in a transverse position across the twig. 

 With abdomen curved she gradually moves as 

 the deposition goes on, and when one circle is 



• Inj. Jns.j p. 37tj. 



