15 



the habits of this insect, kindly sending me his notes, in advance of 

 pnblication in his annnal report for that year. 



This acconnt has since been pnblished in Dr. Lintner's Third Report 

 as State Entomologist of New York, and is quoted in full in the Fifth 

 Report of the U. S. Entomological Commission on Forest and Shade 

 Tree Insects. 



Mr. Shelby Reed, of Scottsville, Monroe County, N. Y., sends leaves of tlie Yellow 

 Birch {Betula luiea), infested with small caterpillars, which are very numerous (forty- 

 eight having been counted on a single leaf) and eat the upper and lower surfaces of 

 the leaves, leaving only the transparent inner tissue. ^' The trees infested with them 

 have a brown and scorched appearance, and light comes down through the thickest 

 foliage as through a skylight. * - * ^ fe^ of the larvae had spun cocoons on the 

 surface of the leaf when received. On the following day nearly all had mad^ or 

 were engaged in making their cocoons." 



Our larv?e agree in all respects with Lintner's description. 



The larvae occur in great numbers, both on the upper and under side 

 of the leaf, eating the parenchyma out of both sides, so as to skeleton- 

 ize the leaf, which prematurely turns brown, many of them falling off. 

 In confinement it walks slowly, often dropping down and hanging by a 

 thread. 



Larva. — Length 5 or 6 mm. The head is about two-thirds as wide as the body 

 where thickest ; it is pale honey-yellow. The body is long and slender, tapering 

 regularly towards each extremity; the anal legs are rather large, project well be- 

 hind the body, and diverge in creeping. The body is pale honey-yellow, with some- 

 times a slight greenish hue. The hairs are fine, scattered, arising from small pale 

 warts; besides the four dorsal warts, which are arranged in a regular trapezoid, 

 there is a lateral one visible on each side. The surface of the prothoracic segment 

 is large and broad, though not so wide as the second thoracic segment; about six 

 hairs xDroject from the front edge. The segments are all very distinct, the sutures 

 being deeply impressed, while the hinder edge of each segment is slightly raised 

 and thickened. The second and third thoracic segments are much shorter than the 

 prothoracic, while the first and seventh abdominal segments are longer, at least two- 

 thirds, than the eighth. The ninth abdominal segment is much narrower than the 

 eighth, and narrows posteriorly. There are four pairs of middle abdominal legs, and 

 they are of the same color as the body. The oval cylindrical yellowish testes ( ?) are 

 distinctly visible under the skin of the fifth abdominal segment. 



Late in September and early in October the cocoons were found on 

 the birch leaves, but also on those of the Wild Cherry. They are 5 mm. 

 in length, and in shape elongated, oval, sharp at each end, and with 

 eight sharp, high ridges. They are white, turning darker in many 

 cases. 



The moths had not, up to December 1, appeared in the tin boxes in 

 which the cocoons had been kept in a warm room, but the chrysalids 

 were alive, and will eventually, without doubt, give out the moths. It 

 is evident that the enormous abundance of this Tineid is to be some- 



