164 NATURE SKETCHES IN TEMPERATE AMERICA 



south and southwest, ranging northward into Canada. The 

 caterpillars feed on a variety of trees and shrubs. The fact that 

 this insect covers such a wide range of territory and possesses 

 diverse feeding habits is, without doubt, instrumental in the 

 preservation of its life. It seems that these factors, coupled 

 with great fertility, protective resemblance, alarm or signal 

 markings, and poison hairs, combine to outweigh the destructive 

 attacks made by the ichneumon wasps, parasitic Hymenoptera, 

 and other unknown enemies. 



