INSECT ENEMIES OF EASTERN FORESTS 387 
bluish green, and the forewings translucent-and crossed by five broad, 
irregular, slightly darker bands edged with fine, dark lines. The 
third band reaches only from the costal mar gin to the median vein. 
The hind wings are translucent, pale, and yellowish. The full-grown 
larva is about. 114 inches long. The head is black, the body blackish 
and clothed in compact tufts of fine hairs var ying from gray to yel- 
lowish with an olive tinge. Arising from each of the second and 
third thoracic segments is a pair of long, brownish to black pencils 
and just beneath each j isa somewhat white pencil; also from the eighth 
abdominal segment projects a pair of blackish pencils (fig. (3s J65)\e 
This species ranges throughout the eastern part ot the United 
States and southern Canada. The larvae are general feeders on the 
fohage of deciduous trees, and usually are found singly. Frequently 
they are very common in forests and along roadsides. The moths 
emerge in June and July, the larvae are prevalent from August to 
October, and the winter is passed in the pupal stage in a brownish, 
hairy cocoon made of silk and hairs from the body of the larva. = 
The sycamore tussock moth (/alisidota harrisit (Walsh) ) cannot 
be distinguished from /. tessellaris, and the larva apparently differs 
only in color. The full-grown larva has a yellowish-brown head, and 
yellowish body clothed in whitish to yellow hairs, and the long hair 
pencils are orange. This species feed on sycamore and probably is 
found throughout the range of its food plant. The !ife history is 
similar to that of H. tesse/laris. It has been noted in abundance on 
shade and ornamental trees in the Northeastern States. 
The moth of the fall webworm (Hyphantria cunea (Drury) ) is 
pure white with a wing expanse of about 114 inches, the forewing some- 
times marked with blackish dots. The full-grown larva is about 1 
inch long, generally pale yellowish or ereenish with a broad, dusky, 
longitudinal stripe on the back and a yellowish stripe along the sides. 
The body is covered with whitish to reddish hairs, which arise from 
black and orange warts (fig. 76). This species is distributed through- 
out the greater “part of the United States and Canada. Itisa rather 
general feeder, and a well-known pest of deciduous shade trees, orna- 
mental trees and shrubs, and those along roadsides. It affects the 
esthetic value of the trees rather than causing actual injury from 
defoliation, except in periods of extreme abundance (fig. 77). 
There is one generation in the northern range of the insect, usually 
one and a partial second in the latitude of southern Connecticut and 
New Jersey, and two complete generations farther south. The moths 
emerge from May to early July, depending on the climatic range, and 
those of the second generation in July and August. The eggs are laid 
in white masses of 400 to 500 on the under sides of the leaves. Soon 
after they have hatched the larvae begin to spin a silken web over the 
fohage, enlarging it to enclose more food as they grow. They are 
gregarious until the last larval instar, by which time 2 2 or 3 feet of one 
or more branches are enclosed with a dirty web which contains excre- 
ment, molt skins, and bits of dried leaf clippings. The larvae may 
be found from June to October, the dates varying in the different 
regions. In general, the larvae of the first veneration are active in 
June and J uly, the larvae of the second generation and those in the 
region of the single generation may be found from July to October. 
Pupation takes place i in a thin cocoon usually spun in the duff on the 
