Winter is spent in the egg stage and hatching occurs in April 
or May. Larvae are present until July, then pupate in cells in 
the ground. Adults are present from October to December. The 
females crawl up the trunks of trees and deposit their eggs singly 
or in small groups in bark crevices. There is one generation per 
year. Several outbreaks have been recorded in the Northeastern 
States and Canada. At such times, male moths ave attracted to 
street lights in nearby towns in considerable numbers. Two dip- 
terous parasites, Pseudotachinomya webberi Sm. and Zenillia 
vulgaris Fall., commonly attack the larvae. A virus epizootic 
occurred in an outbreak in Quebec in 1961. 
Lycia ursaria (Walker) larvae feed on the foliage of a number 
of hardwoods such as paper birch, willow, elm, maple, poplar, 
basswood, ash, wild cherry, and alder in eastern Canada and the 
Atlantic Coastal States. Willow and paper birch appear to be 
preferred. The adult is gray, stout-bodied, and has a wingspread 
of about 50 mm. Both pairs of wings are crossed by diffused, 
blackish lines. Full-grown larvae are about 50 mm. long. There 
are four large whitish spots on the front of the prothorax, and 
the body is marked with numerous longitudinal wavy lines and 
creamy-white spots. Larvae are present from May to July, and 
winter is spent as pupae in the ground. This species is occa- 
sionally quite common in New England. 
Phaeoura quernaria J. E. Smith occurs in oaks in the Atlantic 
Coastal States. Full-grown larvae are about 50 mm. long. The 
head is bilobed and angular; the body slate gray, stoutish, and 
armed with brownish tubercles. The tops of the first two thoracic 
segments are also marked with reddish brown and black. Larvae 
are found from June to September; winter is spent in the pupal 
stage. 
Plagodis serinaria (H.-S.) feeds on various hardwoods such as 
red maple, yellow and white birch, beech, and aspen in the North- 
eastern States and eastern Canada. Full-grown larvae are about 
37 mm. long. The head is bilobed and angular; the body dull 
brown with blotches of lighter and darker shades and a promi- 
nent swollen area on the back of the sixth abdominal segment. 
Winter is spent in the pupal stage, and adults are present during 
May and June. P. phlogosaria keutzingaria Pack. feeds on ash 
in the Northeastern States. 
Hyperetis amicaria (H.-S.) feeds on beech, yellow and paper 
birch, willow, and alder throughout much of eastern United 
States and from coast to coast in southern Canada. There are 
also records of its feeding on such conifers as larch, white spruce, 
and balsam fir. Full-grown larvae are green to brownish and 
about 80 mm. long. The head is rather small and flattened in 
front, and there are two whitish spots on the tops of all body 
segments except the first thoracic. Larvae are present from July 
to early September, and winter is spent in the pupal stage. 
The filament bearer, Nematocampa limbata (Haw.), feeds on 
the foliage of hemlock, fir, and such hardwoods as maple, oak, 
gray birch, wild cherry, horse chestnut, and apple in eastern 
United States and eastern Canada. Full-grown larvae are green- 
ish-brown with reddish-brown heads and are about 18 mm. long. 
There is a pair of tubercles on the first abdominal segment; a 
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