﻿CANKER 
  WORMS: 
  NOMENCLATURE. 
  163 
  

  

  (IfYBERNiADiE), 
  from 
  the 
  principal 
  genus 
  \_Hyl>ernia'\ 
  included 
  therein. 
  The 
  cater- 
  

   pillars 
  have 
  only 
  ten 
  legs, 
  six 
  before 
  and 
  four 
  behind 
  ; 
  and 
  they 
  undergo 
  their 
  trans- 
  

   formations 
  in 
  the 
  ground. 
  The 
  insects 
  called 
  canker-worms, 
  in 
  this 
  country, 
  are 
  of 
  

   this 
  kind. 
  The 
  moths, 
  from 
  which 
  they 
  are 
  produced, 
  belong 
  to 
  the 
  genus 
  Aniso- 
  

   pieryx,^^ 
  so 
  named 
  because 
  in 
  some 
  species 
  the 
  wings 
  in 
  the 
  two 
  sexes 
  are 
  very 
  unequal 
  

   in 
  size, 
  and 
  in 
  others 
  the 
  females 
  are 
  wingless. 
  In 
  the 
  late 
  Professor 
  Peck's 
  "Natural 
  

   History 
  of 
  the 
  Canker-worm," 
  Avhich 
  was 
  published 
  among 
  the 
  papers 
  of 
  "the 
  Mas- 
  

   sachusetts 
  Society 
  for 
  Promoting 
  Agriculture," 
  and 
  obtained 
  a 
  prize 
  from 
  the 
  Society, 
  

   this 
  insect 
  is 
  called 
  Phalcena 
  vernata, 
  on 
  account 
  of 
  its 
  common 
  apj)earance 
  in 
  the 
  

   spring, 
  and 
  also 
  to 
  distinguish 
  it 
  from 
  the 
  winter 
  moth 
  (Phalcena 
  or 
  Cheimatohia 
  bru- 
  

   mata) 
  of 
  Europe. 
  

  

  Harris 
  then 
  describes 
  " 
  tlie 
  male 
  canker-worm 
  moth,'' 
  and 
  continues 
  : 
  

  

  This 
  is 
  the 
  usual 
  appearance 
  of 
  the 
  male, 
  in 
  its 
  most 
  perfect 
  condition 
  ; 
  by 
  which 
  it 
  

   will 
  be 
  seen 
  that 
  it 
  closely 
  resembles 
  the 
  Anisopteryx 
  JEscularia 
  of 
  Europe. 
  

  

  After 
  comparing 
  these 
  two 
  males, 
  he 
  says: 
  

  

  Specimens, 
  of 
  a 
  rather 
  smaller 
  size, 
  are 
  sometimes 
  found, 
  resembling 
  the 
  figure 
  and 
  

   description 
  given 
  by 
  Professor 
  Peck, 
  in 
  which 
  the 
  whitish 
  bands 
  and 
  spot 
  are 
  want- 
  

   ing, 
  and 
  there 
  are 
  three 
  interrupted 
  dusky 
  lines 
  across 
  the 
  fore-wings, 
  with 
  an 
  

   oblique 
  blackish 
  dash 
  near 
  the 
  tip. 
  Perhaps 
  they 
  constitute 
  a 
  different 
  species 
  from 
  

   that 
  of 
  the 
  true 
  canker-worm 
  moih.^^ 
  Should 
  this 
  be 
  the 
  case, 
  the 
  latter 
  ^'^ 
  may 
  be 
  called 
  

   Anisopteryx 
  pometaria, 
  or 
  the 
  Anisopteryx 
  of 
  the 
  orchard, 
  while 
  the 
  former 
  should 
  re- 
  

   tain 
  the 
  name 
  originally 
  given 
  to 
  it 
  by 
  Professor 
  Peck. 
  The 
  female 
  is 
  wingless, 
  and 
  

   its 
  antennae 
  are 
  short, 
  slender, 
  and 
  naked. 
  Its 
  body 
  approaches 
  to 
  an 
  oval 
  form, 
  but 
  

   tapers 
  and 
  is 
  turned 
  up 
  behind. 
  It; 
  is 
  dark 
  ash-colored 
  above, 
  and 
  gray 
  beneath. 
  

  

  This 
  is 
  the 
  first 
  intimation 
  that 
  we 
  have 
  of 
  the 
  existence 
  of 
  more 
  

   than 
  one 
  species 
  of 
  Canker 
  Worm, 
  and 
  this 
  relates 
  only 
  to 
  the 
  differ- 
  

   ences 
  to 
  be 
  observed 
  in 
  the 
  males, 
  no 
  differences 
  in 
  the 
  females 
  being 
  

   indicated. 
  It 
  will 
  be 
  noticed 
  here, 
  moreover, 
  that 
  Harris 
  applies 
  the 
  

   designation, 
  ^' 
  true 
  canker-worm 
  moth," 
  not 
  to 
  the 
  species 
  first 
  called 
  

   the 
  Canker 
  Worm 
  by 
  Peck, 
  but 
  to 
  the 
  larger 
  species 
  (pometaria) 
  now 
  

   described 
  for 
  the 
  first 
  time. 
  This 
  use 
  of 
  the 
  name 
  is 
  very 
  apt 
  to 
  mis- 
  

   lead, 
  for 
  we 
  should 
  expect 
  to 
  find 
  the 
  term 
  " 
  true 
  Canker 
  Worm 
  moth" 
  

   applied 
  to 
  the 
  species 
  described 
  as 
  such 
  by 
  Professor 
  Peck, 
  and 
  not, 
  as 
  

   Harris 
  here 
  applies 
  it, 
  to 
  the 
  other 
  species. 
  Indeed, 
  most 
  subsequent 
  

   writers, 
  including 
  Fitch,^=' 
  Packard,^^ 
  Mann, 
  ^^ 
  and 
  Eiley,^® 
  were 
  misled 
  

   by 
  the 
  language, 
  and 
  took 
  it 
  for 
  granted 
  that 
  the 
  name 
  pometaria 
  

   was 
  proposed 
  for 
  the 
  smaller 
  form, 
  while 
  even 
  Dr. 
  Harris 
  himself 
  was 
  

   so 
  little 
  convinced 
  of 
  the 
  distinctness 
  of 
  the 
  two 
  species 
  that, 
  as 
  Mr. 
  

   Mann 
  has 
  shown," 
  he 
  did 
  not 
  separate 
  the 
  specimens 
  in 
  his 
  collection, 
  

   and 
  still 
  applied 
  the 
  name 
  vernata 
  to 
  both 
  the 
  forms. 
  

  

  So 
  long 
  as 
  the 
  male 
  moths 
  only 
  were 
  carelessly 
  compared, 
  there 
  

   would 
  always 
  be 
  a 
  question 
  as 
  to 
  whether 
  the 
  differences 
  were 
  varietal 
  

  

  *i 
  Literally 
  unequal 
  tving. 
  

  

  52 
  The 
  italics 
  are 
  our 
  own. 
  — 
  C. 
  V. 
  R. 
  

  

  " 
  3(1 
  Kept. 
  Ins. 
  N. 
  Y., 
  § 
  38. 
  

  

  "Guide 
  to 
  study 
  of 
  Ins., 
  3d 
  ed., 
  p. 
  324. 
  

  

  wProc. 
  Best. 
  Soc. 
  Nat. 
  Hist., 
  v. 
  15, 
  p. 
  382. 
  

  

  weth 
  Eept. 
  Ins. 
  Mo., 
  p. 
  29. 
  

  

  wProc, 
  Bost. 
  Soc. 
  Nat. 
  Hist., 
  v. 
  16, 
  p. 
  208. 
  

  

  