272 



THE AMEEICAN 



only, show mostly the yellow, and are not annulated. 

 On the posterior legs are two pairs of short spurs, the 

 lower equal, the upper differing in length by one-fourth . 

 White encircles tlie eyes, obscurely so above. 



The 5 differs from the male in a larger proportion of 

 light color in the fringe, above and beneath. In lioth, 

 on the inferior surface, the basal half of the fringe is 

 ashy white, then nearly black, and barely tipped with 

 yellowish white. The § antennre show annulations. 



This Hesperian agrees in some strildng points 

 with II. alternata, Gi-. and Rob. (Georgia) 

 Trans. Am. Eut. Soc, Vol. I, page 3, but has 

 marked differences. H. W. Parker. 



GEiNNELt, Iowa, 'JunS"23',"^-870. ,.,„ .. 



INSECTS INJURIOUS TO THE GRAPE-TINE— No, 10. 

 Tlie Commou Yellow Bfeso^^^^- 



{iSpilosoma mrginica, Fabr.) 

 •""-.,-». [Fig. 170.1 ._-,.'• 





This is one of our most common North Ameri- 

 can insects. The moth (Fig. 170, c) which is 

 very generally dubbed " the Miller," frequently 

 Hies into our rooms at night ; and there are quite 

 a number of our Western farmers who, somehow 

 or other, have got the idea that this "Miller"' is 

 the insect that infests their bee-hives — that it is, 

 in short, the Bee-moth. Of course no such ridi- 

 culous idea could for a moment prevail among 

 the readers of the Entomologist; but, unfor- 

 tunately, there are yet many good souls in the 

 country who think they know all about Bugs, 

 and Avilo would scout the idea of taking a journal 

 devoted primarily to the history and habits of 

 tliese little beings. 



Tliough the moth is so commou, how few 

 persons ever think of it as the parent of that most 

 troublesome of caterpillars, which Harris has so 

 aptly termed tlie Yellow Bear (Fig. 170, a) . These 

 caterpillars arc quite freqnentlj'' found on the 

 Grape-vine, and when about one-fourth grown 

 bear a considerable resemblance to the mature 

 larva of the Grape-vine Plume figured in our last 

 number. They seldom appear, however, till that 

 species has disappeared, and may always be 



distinguished from it by their semi-gregarious 

 habit at this time of their life, and by living 

 exposed on the leaf (generally the under side) 

 Instead of forming a retreat witliiu which to hide 

 themselves, as does the Plume. 



The Yellow Bear is found of all sizes from 

 June to October ; and though quite fond of the 

 Vine, is by no means confined to that plant. It 

 is, in fact, a very general feeder, being found on 

 a great variety of herbaceous plants, both wild 

 and cultivated, as butternut, lilac, beans, peas, 

 convolvulus, corn, currant, gooseberry, cotton, 

 sunflower, plantain, smart -weed, verbenas, 

 geraniums, and almost any plant with soft, 

 tender leaves. These caterpillars are indeed so 

 indiflerent as to their diet, that we have actually 

 known one to subsist entirely, from the time it 

 cast its last skin till it spun up, on dead bodies 

 of the Camel Cricket {Mantis Carolina) . V^ 



When young they are invariably bluish-white, 

 but when full-grown they may be found either of 

 a pale cream-color, yellow, light brown, or very 

 dark brown, the diflerent colors often appearing 

 in the same brood of worms, as we have proved 

 by experiment. Yellow is tlie most commou 

 color, and in all the varieties the venter is dark, 

 and there is a characteristic longitudinal black 

 line, more or less interrupted, along- each side of 

 tlie body, and a transverse line of the same color 

 (sometimes faiut) between each of the joints: 

 the head and feet are ochre-yellow, and the hairs 

 spring from dark yellow warts, of which there 

 are 10 on each joint, those on joint 1 being 

 scarcely distinguishable, and those on joint 12 

 coalescing. There are two broods of these 

 worms each year, the broods intermixing, and 

 the last passing the winter in the chrysalis state. 

 The chrysalis (Fig. 170, b) is formed in a trivial 

 cocoon, constructed almost entirely of the cater- 

 pillar's hairs, which, though held in position by 

 a few very fine siUcen threads, are fastened to- 

 gether mainly by the interlocking of then- minute 

 barbs, and tlie manner in which the caterpillar 

 interweaves them. 



The moth makes its apxDearance as early as the 

 first of May in the latitude of St. Louis, but may 

 often be found much earlier in stove-warmed 

 rooms. It is easily recognized by its pure white 

 color, by its abdomen being orange above, with 

 three rows of black spots, and by the black dots 

 on its wings. These dots vary in number, there 

 being usually two on each of the front and three 

 on each of the hind wings, tliough sometimes 

 they are all more or less obsolete, except that on 

 the disk of the front wings. 



It is fortunate for us that this caterpillar is 

 attacked by a large number of insect parasites ; 



