72 



There are two insects familiarly known as Tent Caterpillars, from the silken web& 

 they make upon trees. They are very similar in appearance and habits, but can always 

 be distinguished from each other. One of them is called the Apple-tree Tent Caterpillar 

 (Clisiocampa Americana, Harris), because it especially attacks apple trees. It is also 

 very fond of the wild cherry, and will feed upon many other fruit trees. This insect is 

 so destructive and so serious a pest that it should be fought at every stage of its 

 existence, and the work of extermination may be begun even in the winter. When the 

 trees are destitute of foliage, the egg-masses may be readily seen with a little practice 

 near the end of the twigs. They are represented at c in the accompanying illustration,. 

 Fig. 42. By going around the orchard on a dull day in winter, when there is no sun to 

 dazzle the eyes, the bracelet of eggs may be easily discovered, and if cut off and 

 burnt, it will exterminate what would otherwise turn into a nest full of caterpillars in 

 the spring. 



When winter is over and the young leaves are just beginning to burst from their 

 buds, it will be time to make another round of observation. The warmth of the spring 

 days that has caused the buds to open and the tender leaves to expand, has also hatched 

 the tiny eggs of this insect. The little caterpillars at first eat the gummy substance with 

 which the egg-mass was covered for protection from wet and cold, and then they spin a 

 fine web of white silk in a fork of the bough they are on. This forms the headquarters 

 of the colony, and from it they make silken roads to the nearest bunch of foliage. As 

 they grow in size, the mofe voracious they become, and the further they extend their 

 rambles in search of food, until when fully grown they scatter all over the tree, or 

 migrate to others near. The time to deal with them is evidently when they are small 

 and collected together in their tent. Before the trees are in full leaf, the glistening 

 white tents can be seen at once, and it will be found that the caterpillars collect together 

 in them when the weather is inclement, and also when they are not feeding. They 

 usually go out for their meals twice a day, in the morning and afternoon ; at other times- 

 they are in their tents. Early in the morning and at night they are sure to be at home, 

 and then is the time to destroy them. By inserting a rough stick into the middle of the 

 web and twisting it round and round, the whole mass, caterpillars, web and all, can be- 

 brought away without difficulty, and then the worms can be crushed under foot or even 

 between the gloved hands. If this matter is attended to early in the season, there will 

 be no further trouble from them that year. Boys can do this work as well as anyone,, 

 and perhaps they can be taught that there is just as much fun in usefully destroying 

 caterpillars' nests as in mischievously robbing those of the farmers' good friends, the 

 birds. The work, however, should not be confined to the orchard and garden. These 

 insects are even more partial to the wild cherry than to the apple, and often these trees 

 on the borders of the woods and along the roads may be found covered with these tents. 

 Of course, they should be as carefully destroyed as if they were on the most valuable- 

 fruit trees, for, if let alone, they will produce a crop of moths that will fly in all direc- 

 tions and lay their eggs even in the most vigilantly watched garden. Dr. Fitch recom- 

 mended that some wild cherry trees should be planted on the borders of the orchard, in 

 order that the moths might be attracted to lay their eggs on them in preference to the 

 apple, as he says, it will be much easier to destroy a hundred egg-masses or tents on a 

 single tree than if they were scattered over a hundred separate trees. Various remedies 

 have been proposed for these caterpillars, such as coal oil, soap suds, lye, etc., but there 

 is no method so simple and easy, and so thoroughly efficacious as destroying the tents in 

 early spring. Where this is neglected, the results are disastrous, and orchards are some- 

 times seen denuded of foliage and in a pitiable state, owing to the laziness or ignorance,. 

 or both, of the owner. Such people ought to be indicted as a public nuisance, for they 

 not only lose their own fruit, but they keep a nursery for supplying their neighbours 

 with these destructive pests. 



The next stage in the life-history of the insect is the formation of the cocoon and 

 the change into a chrysalis. Before undergoing this transformation, the caterpillars- 

 wander away from the tree, and search for some sheltered place, such as the underside of 

 the top boards or stringers of a fence, loose pieces of bark, etc. Here they spin each one 

 an oval cocoon (Fig. 42, d) of yellowish silk, mixed up with which is some yellow dust 



