156 MAINE AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION. 1904. 



web over the leaf near the egg cluster. From this protection 

 they advance side by side, sometimes two hundred tiny cater- 

 pillars feeding in an unbroken line, though they huddle together 

 beneath the web when disturbed in any way. When they have 

 eaten all but the skeleton of the first leaf, they draw another into 

 the web and repeat the process at intervals during the late sum- 

 mer. They feed slowly, however, and spend so much time 

 spinning their web that they do comparatively little damage to 

 the trees in fall, and they are still very small when cold weather 

 comes on, those removed from the winter nests being only about 

 one-fourth of an inch in length. 



The winter nests. (Figure 19.) In the fall the young cater- 

 pillars weave additional layers of silk about their retreat, fasten- 

 ing it securely to the branch by the web, and pass the winter 

 thus in colonies of one hundred and fifty to three hundred. 

 These nests, which look like a cluster of dead leaves hanging 

 from the branches, are readily seen after the other leaves have 

 fallen. This is a very unusual yet most commendable habit in 

 a caterpillar pest, for they can be killed, hundreds at a time, 

 simply by destroying the nests in which the colonies hibernate. 



The caterpillars in the spring. Early in the spring the young 

 caterpillars emerge from their winter nests and feed upon the 

 opening leaf buds. Until about the middle of June they feed 

 greedily upon the leaves, completely stripping the trees where 

 they are numerous. 



When full grown the caterpillars are about one and one-half 

 inches long. They are dark brown with a sprinkling of orange. 

 Long fine reddish-brown hairs cover the body, and a row of 

 conspicuous white hairs runs along each side. Like the cater- 

 pillars of the tussock and gypsy moths, they bear bright red 

 eversible tubercles on the top of the sixth and seventh abdominal 

 segments. 



Poisonous qualities of the caterpillars. Were the caterpillars 

 to be feared only for their ravages upon orchard and other trees, 

 the situation would be alarming enough, but not less serious is 

 the physical discomfort experienced by people living in infested 

 districts. When the minutely barbed hairs of the caterpillar 

 come in contact with the skin they cause an eruption similar to 

 and in many cases worse than ivy poisoning. These hairs are 



