INSIiCT NOTe:.S for I912. 451 



other members of the family it feeds upon grasses and thus 

 its habitat serves as a ready means of distinguishing it from 

 the tiger caterpillars ; and the characteristic hair tufts give 

 good distinctive features if a careful examination is made. 

 This insect 'hibernates in the caterpillar stage and completes 

 its growth in tlie spring. On May 2 a collection of these cater- 

 pillars in their last instar was received at the Station (fig. 495). 

 They were colored as follows : Body surface purplish black ; 

 no dorsal line present but subdorsal and lateral longitudinal 

 line of yellowish white ; head shining deep rich wine red with 

 black face and jaws, prolegs reddish, matching head in color 

 but not shining; true legs shining black; hair of 2nd and 3rd 

 thoracic segments inclined dow^n over head; 'hair of thorax and 

 caudal 2 segments mixed black and white giving gray appear- 

 ance ; dorsal hair of abdominal segments, i to 8 inclusive, yel- 

 ]iow with a row of 8 black tufts. 



In coufinemcnt these caterpillars ate grass greedily, the first 

 of them spinning a cocoon .and pupating May 4-6, and the 

 others following within a week. The cocoon is a loose oval 

 case, composed almost entirely of the caterpillar hairs (fig. 494). 

 The first moth emerged May 31 and the others emerged on and 

 before June 3. Lot 1455. Hymenopterous parasites (Lot 1474) 

 emerged from part of this lot on June 3. 



Buproctis chrysorrhoea. 



BROWNTAIL MOTH. 



As in former seasons many nests containing larvae of this 

 species were received for identification by the Station during 

 the winter of 1911-12, but unhke those received in former 

 years, many nests contained only or chiefly d'ead caterpillars. 

 What caused the death of the insects has not been satisfactorily 

 traced to any single cause which would explain all cases and it 

 is possible that fungpus disease, insect parasites, and climatic 

 conditions each were responsible for part of the mortality. 

 Nests from neighboring places would in one case contain dead 

 caterpillars and in the next a fair percentage of live ones. All 

 of the nests from one Orono orchard were examined and found 

 to contain practically only dead caterpillars. Parasites emerged 

 from part of these nests. 



