THE HISTORY OF A CATERPILLAR'S LIFE 



'EW insects pass so long a portion of the 

 year within the eggs as do the Tent Cat- 

 erpillars. In July the eggs are laid in 

 masses of 200 or more in a cylindrical 

 cluster upon the twigs of apple and wild 

 cherry. After they are deposited the 

 parent moth covers them with a viscid 

 liquid, which dries into a sort of varnish 

 that completely coats them, as represented 

 in Fig. 4. The insect remains in this egg 

 state from July until the following spring, 

 when the little caterpillars emerge from 

 the eggs and begin feeding upon the ten- 

 der foliage of the buds about them. In a 

 few days they begin to make a silken tent, 

 utilizing generally, for this purpose, a fork 

 of the branch. As time goes on the nest 

 is enlarged. The caterpillars retire to the 

 tent at night, and during cold and wet 

 weather, and when not feeding. They 

 have regular times for their meals, leav- 

 ing and returning to the nest in processions. They become 

 full grown in about six weeks, being extremely voracious dur- 

 ing the latter part of their development. They are then nearly 

 two inches long, with a hairy body, ornamented with a dis- 

 tinct white stripe along tire middle of the back, on each side of 

 which are numerous short, yellow, longitudinal lines, rather 

 irregularly arranged. The sides are partially covered with 

 paler lines, spotted and streaked with blue, while the lower 

 surface of the body is black. The full-grown caterpillar is 

 represented in Fig. 5. 



When the caterpillars become full grown most of them leave 

 the tree where they have developed, and crawl about in search 

 of shelter. Early in June thousands of these caterpillars may 

 be seen rapidly crawling along the ground, especially by the 



Fig. 4. Egg-Mass 

 (Original) 



