[NSECTS 191 



long and about ;j inch wide. To the eye the egg mass resembles 

 a small, tightly stuffed, oval, buff-colored cushion. During the 

 winter the color often fades to a dingy white. In this mass the 

 eggs, to the average number of 500, are closely packed with 

 yellowish hair from the body of the female. An individual egg 

 is scarcely as large as a pinhead, salmon-colored when first laid, 

 but turning dark in the course of a few weeks. 



The caterpillar, or larva. The eggs hatch about May 1, and 

 each mass, or cluster, yields a swarm of small caterpillars, most 

 of which become fully grown by midsummer. The head of the 

 caterpillar is large in proportion to its body, this being especially 

 noticeable when it is young. Its body is decidedly hairy through- 

 out its whole life. 



The mature caterpillar has a dusky or sooty-colored body and 

 a peculiar marking which is found on no other New England 

 larva. Along the back, starting from the head, which is marked 

 with yellow, is a double row of blue spots followed by a double 

 row of red. This double row, consisting of five pairs of blue and 

 six pairs of red spots, is usually very noticeable on caterpillars 

 which have attained a length of 1 * inches or more, but does not 

 always show up on the shorter caterpillars. The mature caterpillar 

 frequently attains a length of 3 inches. 



The pupa. When fully grown, usually in July, the caterpillar 

 spins a few threads of silk as a supporting framework, casts its 

 skin, and changes into a pupa, or, as it is sometimes called, a 

 chrysalis. The pupa is dark reddish or chocolate in color and 

 very thinly sprinkled with light-reddish hairs. Unfortunately it 

 resembles the pupae of certain other moths found in Massachusetts, 

 and cannot, except by experts, be identified at a glance. The 

 thinly sprinkled, light-reddish hairs are, however, characteristic. 



Distribution. The gypsy moth spreads chiefly during the cater- 

 pillar stage. While the caterpillars do not crawl very far from 

 their cocoons, except when there is a scarcity of food, they have 

 the habit, when small and young, of spinning down from trees 

 and falling on vehicles, which carry them from place to place. 

 Electric cars, pleasure and business vehicles, bicycles, and auto- 

 mobiles are common means of thus transporting them, and the 

 necessity of keeping the neighborhoods of traveled highways free 



