THE CATERPILLAR AND THE MOTH 



open leaf bud was encountered, dangling in loose webs, 

 but spinning threads everywhere. Yet, in each brood, 

 the individuals kept within reach of one another, and the 

 trails of silk leading back to the main branch always 

 insured the possibility of a family reunion whenever this 

 should be desired. 



One morning, the 27th, one family had gathered in its 

 scattered members and these had already spun a little 

 tentlike web in the 

 crotch between the 

 main stem of the sup- 

 porting twig and two 

 small branches (Fig. 

 145). Some members 

 were crawling on the 

 surface of the tent, 

 others were resting 

 within, still others were 

 traveling back and 

 forth on the silk trails' 

 leading outward on the 

 branches, and the rest 

 were massed about 

 the buds devouring the 

 young leaves. The es- 

 tablishment of the tent 

 marks the beginning of 

 a change in the cater- 

 pillars' lives; it entails 

 responsibilities that de- 

 mand a fixed course of 

 daily living. In the lives of the tent caterpillars this 

 point is what the beginning of school days is to us — the 

 end of irresponsible freedom, and the beginning of sub- 

 jection to conventional routine. 



Every tent caterpillar family that survives infancy 

 eventually reaches the point where it begins the con- 



[267] 



Fig. 145. First tent made by young tent 

 caterpillars. (About half natural size) 



