purplish tinge and about 43 mm long. The body segments are slightly smaller at the 
middle, and the eighth segment bears a well-developed horn. Larvae are present 
from July to October, depending on locality, and the winter is spent as a pupa in the 
ground. There may be one or two generations per year. 
Lophodonta angulosa (J. E. Smith) occurs from southeastern Canada to Florida 
and Texas and feeds on various species of oaks. Full-grown larvae are pea green and 
about 37 mm long. The body is marked with a faint, double, whitish line down the 
middle of the back, and a distinct reddish stripe down each side. Larvae may be 
found from May to October, and winter is spent in silken cocoons on the ground. 
There are two generations per year in the South, but only one in the North. L. 
ferruginea Packard occurs on paper birch in the Northeastern States and south- 
eastern Canada. 
Nadata gibbosa (J. E. Smith), the green oak caterpillar, occurs from coast to 
coast in southern Canada and throughout the United States. The larvae feed on the 
foliage of a wide variety of deciduous trees such as various species of oaks, red and 
sugar maples, beech, paper birch, and willow. Full-grown larvae are pale pea green, 
have large, rounded heads and tapering bodies, and are about 43 mm long. The 
spiracles are deep red, and there is a yellowish stripe along each side. Larvae may 
be found from May to October, and winter is spent as a pupa beneath the litter, but 
not in the ground. There may be two generations per year as far north as New 
England. 
Nerice bidentata Walker feeds on elm in southern Ontario and from New 
England to the Lake States and Kansas. Full-grown larvae are bluish green and 
about 30 mm long. There are four white bands on the front and sides of the head, 
and there is a large forward-pointing tubercle on each of the first eight abdominal 
segments, and a pair of small ones on the ninth. Larvae are present from June to 
September, and the winter is spent in silken cocoons on the ground. There is one or 
one and a partial second generation per year. 
Symmerista canicosta Franclemont, the redhumped oakworm, occurs in south- 
eastern Canada and throughout much of the Northeastern United States. Its hosts 
are various oaks, preferably white and bur, and several other deciduous trees such 
as basswood, sugar maple, paper birch, beech, and elm. Outbreaks covering 
several thousand hectares of oak type have occurred in Michigan and New England 
(1S). The adult is ash gray, with a long, white area near the outer two-thirds of the 
costal margin of each forewing, and it has a wingspread of 37 to 50 mm. The full- 
grown larva has a rounded, orange-red head and a yellowish body that increases in 
width back to an orange-red enlargement on the eighth abdominal segment. The 
body is also marked with five fine, black dorsal lines (fig. 93). 
Adults appear from May to July and the female deposits her eggs in masses on 
the undersides of leaves. The larvae feed gregariously at first and skeletonize the 
foliage. Later, they scatter out and feed singly, devouring entire leaves except the 
larger veins. Mature larvae move to the ground and spin cocoons in rolled leaves 
where they pupate and spend the winter. There appears to be one generation per 
year. 
Populations are usually too light to cause serious injury. Sometimes, though, they 
are heavy enough to cause severe defoliation in isolated spots. 
Symmerista albifrons (J. E. Smith) occurs in the Eastern United States. Its hosts 
are much the same as those of the redhumped oakworm, a species with which it is 
easily confused both in appearance and habits. At least 5,000 hectares of northern 
hardwoods were defoliated in Upper Michigan and Wisconsin during an outbreak in 
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