abdominal segment bears a pair of prominent tubercles. Larvae feed from June to 
October, winter is spent in the pupal stage, and there are two generations per year. 
The pepper-and-salt moth, Biston betularia cognataria (Guenée), occurs in 
eastern Canada and the Northeastern States where it feeds on elm, willow, poplar, 
black locust, cherry, and apple. The adult is dark brown to black and has a 
wingspread of about 55 mm. The light-gray forewings are suffused with gray-brown 
and have dark-brown to black crosslines (783). Full-grown larvae, commonly called 
cleft-headed spanworms, are 50 to 75 mm long. The head is deeply cleft, 
granulated, and flat in front; there are tubercles on each side of the prothorax and on 
the fifth and eighth abdominal segments (/037). Larvae feed from July to October, 
and winter is spent in the pupal stage in the litter. 
Campaea perlata (Guenée), the fringed looper, is a common species in the 
Northeastern United States and Canada, and the larvae feed on balsam fir, hemlock, 
and many species of deciduous trees. Adults have whitish wings; the forewings are 
pointed at the apex and have two gray crosslines; the hindwings are scalloped on the 
outer margin (754). The full-grown larva is 20 to 25 mm long and light brown to 
grayish with dark-brown markings (754, 1/036). Protoboarmia porcelaria indica- 
taria (Walker) is also a common species in northeastern forests. Adults are gray. 
Larvae feed on a wide variety of trees including balsam fir, white spruce, larch, jack 
pine, birch, quaking aspen, and willow. 
Family Mimallonidae 
Mimallonid Moths 
Adults of this family are stout-bodied moths with pectinate antennae. The 
forewings are falcate, bent at the middle, and heavy-veined. The humeral angle of 
the hindwing is much enlarged, and the frenulum is rudimentary. Two species are 
known to occur in the Eastern United States, neither of which is of economic 
importance. However, they both often attract attention. 
Cicinnus melsheimeri (Harris), Melsheimer’s sackbearer, is fairly common on 
oak, especially bur oak, from New England to the Lake States and southward. The 
adult is reddish gray and has a wingspread of 37 to 50 mm. The body is sprinkled 
with minute black dots; each wing 1s crossed by a narrow blackish band and marked 
by a black discal spot or bar. A newly hatched larva makes a shelter for itself by 
drawing two leaves together with strands of silk. Eventually, the larva constructs an 
ellipsoidal portable case from pieces of leaves and silk, leaving a circular hole at 
each end. It lives in the case but can leave it at will. To move the case, it bites off 
the strand of silk that anchors it and transports it to the new location. When it 1s at 
rest, the larva anchors the case with silk and plugs the openings of the case with its 
head and rear end. Winter is spent in the pupal stage, and adults appear during May 
and June. 
Lacosoma chiridota Grote feeds on oak throughout much the same range as 
Melsheimer’s sackbearer. Adults are dark yellowish brown, with deeply scalloped 
forewings, and have wingspreads of 25 to 30 mm. 
Family Apatelodidae 
Apatelodids 
This family is represented in North America by only five species, two of which 
are encountered fairly often in eastern forests (442). 
Apatelodes torrefacta (J. E. Smith) occurs throughout the eastern part of the 
United States and feeds on maple, black cherry, and various other trees and shrubs. 
Full-grown larvae have rounded yellowish heads and are about 50 mm long. The 
body is whitish to yellow on the dorsum, except for a row or line of more or less 
200 
