262 



THE AMERICAK 



completed, she commences another — and not 

 liefore. With each egg is secreted a brown var- 

 nisli which firmly fastens it to the twig and to 

 its neighbor, and which, njion becoming dry, 

 forms a carinated net-work of brown over the 

 pale egg-shell. These eggs are so regularly laid 

 and so closely glued to eacli other, that the sides 

 are often so apprcssed, that the moth economizes 

 space almost as eflcctually as does the Honey-bee 

 in the formation of its hexagonal cells. In confine- 

 ment the moth very seldom succeeds in forming 

 a perfect ring, but in her abortive attempts, 

 deposits them in dilTerent sized patches ; aud as 

 we have found such unfinished patches attached 

 to an oak leaf out-of-doors, we may conclude 

 Ihat (idler I'mia injury or debility of some kind, 

 tlic ]i;ir('iit'- iii-linctsometimes fails it even when 

 fill llii' cciiHlitions are normal and natural. 



The eggs arc deposited, in the latitude of St. 

 Louis, during the latter part of June. The em- 

 bryo develops during the hot summer weather, 

 and the yet unborn larva is fully formed by the 

 lime winter comes on. They hatch with the 

 first warm weather in spring — generally from 

 the middle to the last of March — and though the 

 buds of their food-plant maj' not have opened at 

 flic time, and though it may freeze severely 

 afterwards, yet these little creatures are won- 

 derfully hardy, and can fast for three whole 

 weeks, if need be, and withstand any amount of 

 inclement weather. The very moment these 

 little larvffi are born, they commence spinning a 

 web wherever they go. At this time they are 

 black witli pale hairs, and are always found 

 either huddled together or traveling in file along 

 the silken paths Avhich they form when in 

 search of food. In about two weeks from the 

 time they commence feeding they go through 

 their first moult, having iirst grown paler or of 

 a light yellowish-brown, with the extremities 

 rather darker than the middle of the body, with 

 tlie little Will-Is which give rise Id flie liiiirs (|\iile 

 disfiucl, and a eonspieuous chirk iiitevnipdMl line 

 each side of the hack. After the iirst iiinult, 

 they arc characterized principally by two pale 

 yellowish subdorsal lines, which border what 

 was before, the dark line above described. After 

 the second moult, which takes place in about a 

 week from the first, the characteristic pale spots 

 on the back appear, the upper pale line be- 

 comes yellow, the lower one white, and the space 

 between them bluish : indeed, the characters of 

 tlic mature larva are from this jjcriod appai-ent. 

 Very soon they undergo a third moult, after 

 which the colors all become more distinct and 

 fresh, the head and anal plate have a soft bluish 

 velvety appearamc, and the hairs seem more 



dense. Alter undergoing a fourth moult with- 

 out material change in appearance, they acquire 

 their full growth in about six weeks from the 

 [Fig. iGG ] time of first feeding. At this time 

 they appear as at Figure 16C, and 

 for those who ai-e interested in such 

 matters, we quote below* Dr. Fitch's 

 description of the full-grown laiTa, 

 as it is the first accurate and detailed 

 description that was published, and 

 as we have occasion to refer to it 

 further on. 



A( (his stage of its growth the Tent- 

 ( aier]]illar of the Forest may be seen 

 wandering singly over different trees, 

 along roads, on the tops of fences, 

 etc., in search of a suitable place to 

 form its cocoon. It usually contents 

 itself with folding a leaf or drawing 

 *"b'hick^vMte '^'^'^^'^'^''^^ together for this purpose, 

 aiidiufous though it frequently spins up under 

 fence boards and in other sheltered situations . The 

 cocoon is very much like that of the common 

 Tent-caterpillar, being formed of a loose exterior 

 covering of wliite silk with the hairs of the larva 

 interwoven, and by amore compact oval inner pod 

 that is made stift'by the meshes being filled with a 

 thin yellowish paste from the mouth of the lai"va, 

 which paste, when dried, gives the cocoon the 

 appearance of being dusted with powdered sul- 

 phur. Three days after the cocoon is completed 

 tlie caterpillar casts its skin for the last time and 

 becomes a chrysalis of a reddish-brown color, 

 slightly dusted with a pale powder, and densely 

 clothed with short pale yellow hairs, which at 

 the blunt and rounded extremity are somewhat 

 larger and darker. In a couple of weeks more. 



It i/cvlill'lrHMl and of a vale bl i-«ilowii 



onoai'hsi.l,' willi-iv,-iii>li-ia>, aim |iririkle(l 



nft.'iK.r ,.lrvri,\,val ,iV ilia m,. 11,1-^1,:, I ,.1^M,,;. ,'.>l^ which 



rnl™t is 



black 

 creain- 



On the 



i-lotiii-il 

 li ct>Ior 

 h short 



have each a larj?o black s])ot on each side. The instant it is 

 immersed in spirits the blue color of this caterpillar vanishes 

 aud it becomes blacls. 



