432 



LEPIDOPTEEA. 



Fig. 214. 



There are a few short, whitish hairs thinly scattered over the 

 body, which is pale yellow, with three slender black lines 

 on the back, and a broad dusky stripe, also marked with 

 three black lines, on each side ; and the head, fore legs, and 

 spiracles are black. When fully grown, these caterpillars 

 measure about an inch and a half in length. They live 



together, in swarms of twenty or 

 more individuals, in a nest (Fig. 

 214) made of a single leaf fold- 

 ed or curled at the sides, and 

 lined with a thin web of silk. 

 An opening is left at each end 

 of the nest; through the lower 

 one the dirt made by the in- 

 sects falls, and through the up- 

 per one, which is next to the 

 leaf-stalk, the caterpillars go out 

 to feed upon the leaves near 

 to their nests. When young 

 they sometimes fold up one 

 side of a leaf for a nest, and 

 eat the other half. The stalks 

 of the leaves, to Avhich their 

 nests are hung, become covered 

 with silk from the threads car- 

 ried along by the caterpillars 

 in going over them ; and these 

 threads help to secure the nests 

 to the branches. They eat all parts of the leaves except the 

 stalks and larger veins, and frequently strip long shoots of 

 their foliage in a very few days. Towards the end of Sep- 

 tember or early in October, according to the age of the 

 different broods, they descend from the trees, disperse, and 

 seek a shelter in crevices or under leaves and rubbish on 

 the ground, where they make their cocoons. These are 

 thin, irregular, silken webs, so loosely spun that the in- 



