WHITE MARKED TUSSOCK MOTH AND ELM LEAF BEETLE 7 



Description. The full grown caterpillar is really a beautiful 

 object. It has a coral red head, a pair of long, black plumes just 

 over it, a single one at the opposite extremity of the body, four deli- 

 cate yellowish or white, brushlike tufts on its back and just behind 

 them, separated only by a segment, two small retractile red eleva- 

 tions. There is a broad, black band broken only by tubercles and 

 tufts along the back and bordered by yellowish stripes. Each side 

 is dark gray except for the yellowish tubercles. The breathing 

 tubes or spiracles are in a black line and below this the caterpillar 

 is yellow, the legs usually being paler [pi. i, fig. 4]. The very young 

 caterpillar is pale yellowish or whitish with long, irregular hairs. It 

 increases in size, casts its skin from time to time and assumes one 

 after another the characteristics of the full grown larva. 



The thin cocoons spun in the crevices of the bark [pi. i, fig. 6] 

 have the long hairs of the caterpillar interwoven and within this 

 shelter the larva transforms to a yellowish white pupa more or less 

 shaded with dark brown or black [pi. i, fig. 7]. 



The sexes differ strikingly as is shown on plate i, figures i and 2. 

 The male is a beautiful moth Avith large feathery antennae, tufted 

 legs, and with the wings and body delicately marked with several 

 shades of gray or grayish white. The female, on the other hand, is 

 a nearly uniform gray with simple antennae and but rudimentary 

 wings. 



The eggs, usually over 300, are deposited on the empty cocoon, 

 under a conspicuous white mass of frothy matter about % inch in 

 diameter [pi. i, fig. 3]. This soon hardens and forms a very 

 effective protection. The egg masses [pi. 4, 5] are easily removed 

 aiid a tree thoroughly cleared thereof can become infested again 

 only by caterpillars crawling from adjacent trees or being carried 

 thereto. The individual egg is nearly spheric, about y^s inch in 

 diameter, white or yellowish white and with a light brown spot 

 surrounded by a ring of the same color. 



Life history and habits. This insect winters in the conspicuous 

 'egg masses described above, the young appearing about the latter 

 part of May in this latitude. They feed at first on the more tender 

 lower epidermis of the leaf and soon devour all but the principal 

 veins. The caterpillars while young frequently hang by a silken 

 thread and continued jarring may cause many to drop to the ground. 

 Feeding and growth occupy a month or more, pupation occurring 



