30 



a common home, whore they retire at night and remain during cloudy 

 days. Each clear morning, at about 8 o'clock, they go out along the 

 branches to the leaves for feeding. The amount of damage done will 

 depend a great deal upon the number of tents upon the tree. The 

 eggs are laid in masses of 200 or 300 arranged in a broad belt around 

 the twig. (See fig. 19, c.) Each end of this belt tapers off to the twig, 

 which character serves to distinguish it from similar egg-clusters of 

 . certain other moths. Each mass is covered with a glistening sub- 

 stance that protects it from the rain. The young caterpillars hatch 

 during the latter part of April or early in May, at about the time 

 wheri the leaves are expanding. They immediately begin to feed on 

 the leaves near by and to unite them into their tent, which is enlarged 

 as the caterpillars grow. The full-grown larva is nearly 2 inches long, 

 hairy and black, with a white stripe along the back. On each side of 



this is a row of short, yel- 

 low streaks; there are also 

 pale lines on the sides of the 

 body. The under side is 

 nearly black. When ready 

 to pupate the caterpillar 

 seeks some protected spot 

 and there spins its yellowish 

 cocoon, and soon changes 

 to a' brown chrysalis. The 

 moth, which is brown, with 

 oblique white bands across 

 the forewings, emerges in 

 a week or so and deposits 

 her egg-mass and dies. 

 There is but one brood a 

 year. 



THE FALL, WEBWOEM. 



{Hyphantria.ciiii('ii Dru. — fig. 20.) 



During the summer and 

 early fall webs or tents sim- 

 ilar to those of the apple- 

 tree tent caterpillar are 

 often seen among the terminal branches of fruit trees. These are the 

 work of the fall webworm. The eggs of this moth, 300 to 500 in num- 

 ber, are laid in patches on either side of the leaves in June. The larvse 

 issue from June to August, and at once begin their web. They eat 

 only the upper surface of the leaf, leaving the veins and the under 

 surface untouched. The young caterpillar is pale yellowish, with daj-k 

 spots along the sides and covered with scattered hairs. The full-grown 



PJB. 20.— Hyplimtria ainea: moths and cocoons. (Howard). 



