FISHERIES, GAME AND FORESTS. 367 



ning at once to spin a web under which they feed. This protecting web is extended 

 to include more and more foliage till finally a considerable proportion of a branch 

 may be inclosed. The caterpillars feed only on the upper portion of the leaf, where 

 they eat the softer parenchyma. The skeletonized leaves within the nest soon dry, 

 turn brown and they with the frass and cast skins of the caterpillars, render the 

 nests very unsightly objects. Occasionally the caterpillars may be forced to leave 

 their webs on account of a scanty food supply but ordinarily this does not occur till 

 they are nearly full grown, which is usually about a month after hatching and then 

 they wander in search of a place to undergo their final transformations. The cater- 

 pillars may spin their thin, semitransparent cocoons in crevices of the bark and in 

 similar shelters at or below the surface of the ground. The insect usually hibernates 

 in an underground cocoon but Prof. Garman of Kentucky has recorded an instance 

 where the adults emerged in the fall and successfully wintered. A recently issued 

 moth was also taken in Washington, D. C, in early January of 1890. The first gen- 

 eration of caterpillars are said to spin their cocoons above ground by preference. 



Food habits. This caterpillar is a very general feeder as is attested by a list of 120 

 food plants, comprising fruit, shade and ornamental trees, that has been compiled by 

 the Division of Entomology of the United States Department of Agriculture. The 

 white elm, willows and poplars suffer perhaps as much as any trees in New York state, 

 though more complaints are received of the depredations of this insect on fruit trees. 

 This is doubtless due to the fact that the injury to the latter is more generally 

 reported on account of the greater value of the trees. 



Natural enemies. Fortunately this insect is preyed upon by a number of natural 

 enemies. A tiny egg parasite, Telcnomus biftdus Riley, may sometimes destroy most 

 of the eggs in a cluster. There is a record of OpJiion glabratum Say having been 

 reared from this insect. Apanteles hypJiantrics Riley and Limneria pallipes Prov. are 

 important parasites of this pest and they in turn are attacked by Elasmus atratus 

 How. Meteorns JiypJiantrice Riley is another valuable parasite of this insect. Its 

 suspended cocoon may by recognized by the accompanying figure. The spined 

 soldier bug, Podisus spinosus Dall, and the allied EuscJiistus scrvus Say prey on the 

 caterpillars. The larvae of a Carabid beetle Plochionus timidus Hald., have been 

 observed in Missouri within the nests in considerable numbers feeding upon the 

 caterpillars. Calosoma scrutator Fabr., dragonfiies and a species of robber fly prey 

 on the moths. The preying mantis, Stagmomantis Carolina Linn., and the wheel 

 bug, Prionidits cristatus Linn., are two forms which attack on the caterpillars in the 

 southern states. A fungus, Empusa grylli, has been recorded as very destructive to 

 this pest in Kentucky in certain years. 



