226 INJUKIOUS INSECTS 



is, of a dull chocolate or grayish-browTi color, the front 

 wings becoming lighter beyond the middle, and being 

 variegated with dark brown as in the figure; the hind 

 wings are sulphur- yellow, with a broad dark-brown bor- 

 der breaking into a series of short lines on a flesh-colored 

 ground, near the body. The wings are deeply scalloped, 

 especially the front ones, and the body is furnished with 

 lateral tufts. When at rest, the abdomen is curiously 

 curved up in the air. 



THE BLUE CATERPILLAES OF THE VINE. 



Besides the large Sphinx caterpillars, described and fig- 

 ured on the preceding pages, every grape-grower must have 

 observed certain so-called "Blue Caterpillars," which, 

 though far from being uncommon, are yet very rarely 

 sufficiently numerous to cause alarm, though in some few 

 cases they have been known to strip certain vines. There 

 are three distinct species of these blue caterpillars, which 

 bear a sufficient resemblance to one another, to cause 

 them to be easily confounded. The first and by far the 

 most common in the West, is the larva of 



THE EIGHT-SPOTTED FORESTER. 

 {Alypia octomaeulata, Fabr.) 



This larva (fig. 142, a), may often be found in the lati- 

 tude of St. Louis as early as the beginning of May, and 

 more abundantly in June, while scattering individuals 

 (probably of a second brood) are even met with, but half- 

 grown, in tbe month of September. The young larva 

 are whitish with transverse lines, the colors not con- 

 trasting so strongly as in the full-grown specimens, 

 though the black spots are more conspicuous. They feed 

 beneath the leaves and can let themselves down by a web. 



