64 



Injuring the Leaves. 



17. The Tent Caterpillars, Clisiocampa distria, Hubnr, and C. Americana, Harris. 

 Order Lepidoptera ; Family Bombycid^;. 



As these insects have been already described and figured in this report, a detailed 

 description is unnecessary (see Figs. 1-5). Unfortunately both species are only too 

 common, G. distria chiefly affecting forest trees, C. Americana being most abundant in 

 the orchard and garden. Neither species is very particular in its choice of food plant, 

 feeding voraciously on the leaves of many kinds of trees and shrubs; indeed, both species 

 may often be seen clustered together in groups upon the trunks and larger limbs. The 

 caterpillars resemble each other very closely, but may easily be distinguished by C . distria 

 having a row of oval white spots along the back, while C. Americana has a white stripe 

 on the upper surface. The reddish brown moths appear in July, and soon deposit their 

 eggs in rings on the smaller branches and twigs, each cluster containing from two to three 

 hundred eggs ! A surprising point in the life-history of these insects is that about a 

 month after the eggs are laid the young caterpillar is fully formed inside the egg and 

 remains in this condition all through the winter, only eating its way out from the egg in 

 the following spring, when the leaves expand. — (Fletcher.) 



Daring the winter months, when the trees are bare of leaves, the clusters of eggs 

 should be collected and burnt. The trees should be searched again in spring, just as the 

 buds are opening, when the small white webs in which the young caterpillars shelter 

 themselves may be easily found and destroyed, 



An invasion from neighbouring trees can be prevented by tying a strip of cotton, 

 batting round the trunk, which the caterpillars have difficulty in climbing over. — (Fletcher. \ 



18. The Orange Striped Oak Caterpillar, Anisota senatoria, Hubn. Order 

 Lepidoptera ; Family Bombycid.e. 



The caterpillar of this moth measures about two inches in length ; it is black, with 

 four yellow stripes along the back, and two on the sides ; it is armed with sharp prickles 

 or spines, and on the top of the second segment are two long slender spines that project 

 forward like horns. The caterpillars are social, feeding together in swarms on the white 

 and red oak, sometimes almost stripping the trees. When full grown they enter the 

 ground, where they change to chrysalis, the moths emerging the following summer. It 

 has been taken in the neighbourhood of Montreal by Mr. P. Knetzing, and has been 

 observed at Hull, Ottawa, by Mr. W. H. Harrington, and is, I believe, common in some 

 parts of Ontario. 



19. The Leaf-rolling Weevil, Attelabus bipustulatus, Fabr. Order Coleoptera ; 

 Family Attelabid.e. 



This beetle measures a little over one-eighth of an inch in length ; it is of a blue- 

 black colour, with a red spot on the shoulder of each wing cover. This beetle has the 

 curious habit of rolling up a leaf, trimming and tucking in the lower ends with her beak. 

 The egg is first deposited near the tip of the leaf, and a little to one side ; the blade of the 

 leaf is then cut through on both sides of the mid-rib, about an inch and a half below a 

 row oi punctures on each side of the mid-rib of the severed portion, which facilitates folding 

 the leaf together, upper surface inside, after which the folded leaf is tightly rolled up 

 from the apex to the transverse cut, bringing the egg in the centre ; the concluding opera- 

 tion is the tucking in and trimming oft the irregularities of the ends. A few days after 

 completion the cases, first observed the latter part of April, drop to the ground ; by May 

 15 several larva.- 1 hatched and fed on the dry substance of their nests ; and by the end of 

 May they pupated within the nest. This state lasted from five to seven days, the first 

 beetles issuing by June 2, while a second brood of larva: may be found early in July. — 

 Martfelt.) 



