38 MAINE AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION. I9OO. 



The following account of the life history of this insect is taken 

 from a special bulletin issued July, 1897, by the Massachusetts 

 Experiment Station. 



DESCRIPTION. 



"The eggs are laid in July, in masses of from 200 to 300, 

 usually on the under side of the leaves, and are covered with the 

 brown hairs from the end of the abdomen. They hatch in a 

 short time and the young caterpillars feed during the rest of the 

 season on the surface of the leaves, leaving in a few days only 

 the skeleton. While still young they begin to make a regular 

 dwelling in which they hibernate during the winter. This habi- 

 tation is constructed at the ends of the twigs and is made by 

 drawing together a few leaves, lining them with silk and sur- 

 rounding them with a mass of silken threads. These tents are 

 so firmly fastened to the twigs that they cannot be removed 

 without using considerable force. 



"Before the leaves begin to grow in the spring, the young 

 caterpillars emerge from their winter retreat and often feed on 

 the swelling buds. They reach their full growth in the early 

 part of June and transform to pupae. In a lot of about eighty, 

 bred in confinement, the last one pupated Tune 18. 



"The full grown caterpillars are from an inch and a quarter to 

 an inch and three-quarters in length. The head is pale brown, 

 mottled with dark brown, with reddish brown hairs scattered 

 over the surface. The body is dark brown or black with 

 numerous fine, dull orange or gray spots over the surface, most 

 pronounced on the second, third and fourth segments. Long, 

 reddish-brown, finely barbed hairs arise from all the tubercles, 

 and white branching hairs arise from the upper side of the lateral 

 tubercles on segments 4 to 12 inclusive. These white hairs 

 form elongated white spots along each side and are one of the 

 most striking characteristics of this caterpillar. The subdorsal 

 and lateral tubercles on segments 4 to 12 inclusive are covered 

 with fine short spines of uniform length. There is a vermillion 

 red, retractile tubercle on the top of the tenth, and a similar one 

 on the top of the eleventh segment. 



