THE CHECKERED TUSSOCK-MOTH. 36-3 



color, being covered, when young, with brownish-yellow 

 tufts, of a darker color on the ridge of the back, and having 

 four long white and two black pencils extending over the 

 head from the second ring, and two black pencils on the 

 eleventh ring ; when they are fully grown they are covered 

 with ash-colored tufts, those on the ridge blackish ; the head 

 is black, the body black or greenish black above, and whit- 

 ish beneath, and the legs are rust-yellow. This is evidently 

 a different species or kind from the hickory tussock, being 

 differently colored, and having the two hindmost pencils 

 placed on the eleventh, and not on the tenth ring. I have 

 not yet succeeded in keeping these caterpillars alive until 

 they had finished their transformations. 



In my collection are specimens of a moth closely resem- 

 bling the hickory tussock in everything except size and color. 

 It may be named Lophocampa metadata, the spotted tussock- 

 moth. It is of a light ochre-yellow color, with large irregu- 

 lar light brown spots on the fore wings, arranged almost 

 in transverse bands. It expands nearly one inch and three 

 quarters. The caterpillar, as far as I can judge from a 

 shrivelled specimen, was covered with whitish tufts forming 

 a crest on the back, in which were situated eight black tufts ; 

 there was a black pencil on each side of the fourth and of 

 the tenth ring, and a quantity of long white hairs overhang- 

 ing the head and the hinder extremity ; the head was black ; 

 but the color of the body cannot be ascertained. 



A fourth kind of Lophocampa, or crested caterpillar, re- 

 mains to be described. It is very common, throughout 

 the United States, on the buttonwood or sycamore, upon 

 which it may be seen in great numbers in July and August. 

 The tufts on these caterpillars are light yellow or straw- 

 colored, the crest being very little darker ; on the second 

 and third rings are two orange-colored pencils, which are 

 stretched over the head when the insect is at rest, and 

 before these are several long tufts of white hairs : on each 

 side of the third ring is a white pencil, and there are two 



