Ths Forest Catbrpillar 



115 



and so lubricated the rails that the wheels of the trains got no hold. On at 

 least two Vermont roads trains were stopped during the last season in the 

 same manner. Last June the caterpillars collected on the granite walls of the 

 state house at Montpelier and on the posts of the fence which surrounds the 

 grounds. For about two weeks a man was constantly employed in going 

 about with a large pan in which kerosene had been poured and a small 

 broom with which he brushed the full grown worms into the pan. During 

 the time he worked he reports that he collected ten bushels and, as I saw 

 the results of his work at different times, I do not think the report exagger- 

 ated. This shows how abundant the pest was in one locality. Unfortu- 

 nately there are many towns in the state which were as badly infested as 

 was Montpelier, so that the almost incredible number of worms collected 

 there is not to be considered as altogether exceptional. 



II. LIFE HISTORY 



Although the life history of Clisiocampa disstria was briefly given in 

 Bulletin 60, yet it is probable that many will be glad to learn all that they 

 can concerning so important an insect; hence the following full account. 

 Unlike many of our worst foes this is a native species, and, as we have 

 seen, it has been well known as a pest for many years. 



THE EGGS 



figure I. », Egg mass, b. 



The eggs are always placed in a 

 band around one of the smaller 

 twigs which presents the appear- 

 ance teen in figure 1. The num- 

 ber of eggs in each cluster varies 

 considerably, some containing as 

 many as four hundred, while 

 others may not have more than 

 two hundred. Usually but a sin- 

 gle egg mass is found on a twig, 

 but th'er^ may be tjwo oi; even 



Female moth. 



, d. Eggs' greatly magnified. 



t(hree. Thp fojloyving accoun^ by Riley explains, the method of depositing 



t^eeggsj. 



"Tihese.eggs.afe.deppsitedin circles, the female moth stafjioning herself 



fpr thi^ pi^rp9^e, in |a transverse position across the twig. With abdomen 



curyedsh^ gradually moves as the deposition goes on, and when gne circle is 



C,ompleted she commences another — and not before. With each egg is secreted 



abrown varnish which firmly fastens it to the twig and to its n,eighbor, 



and which upon becoming dry, forms a carinated network of brown ovei; 



the pale egg-shell. These eggs a,re so regularly laid wd so closely glued 



