166 INSECTS INJURIOUS TO THE PLUM. 



its base a yellowish dot ; the sides are marked with dull ochrey 

 spots, and on the top of the twelfth segment there is a promi- 

 nent black hump. The body is sparingly covered with whitish 

 hairs, which are distributed chiefly along the sides. The under 

 surface is of a dull-greenish color ; the feet are black. 



When full grown, this larva spins a slight cocoon in some 

 sheltered spot, and there changes to a chrysalis, about seven- 

 tenths of an inch long, of a reddish-brown color, with a pol- 

 ished surface. From these the second brood of moths appear 

 late in July, and shortly after eggs are again deposited, from 

 which the later brood of larvae mature about the middle of 

 September, which then become chrysalids, and produce moths 

 the following spring. 



This insect seldom occurs in sufficient numbers to prove 

 very destructivej should it ever do so, it may be readily 

 destroyed by syringing the trees with powdered hellebore or 

 Paris-green mixed with water, as recommended for the pear- 

 tree slug (No. 75). , The larvae are often captured under the 

 bands set as traps for the larvae of the codling moth. 



No. 85.— The Mottled Plum-tree Moth. 



Apatela siiperans (Guen.). 



The caterpillar of this moth also feeds on the leaves of the 

 plum, and, like that last described, is solitary in its habits. It 

 appears about the middle of June. It is a green caterpillar, 

 about an inch long, with its body seeming as if laterally com- 

 pressed, making it appear higher than it is wide. There is a 



broad chestnut-colored stripe along; the back, 

 margined with yellowish, and on every seg- 

 ment there are several shining tubercles, each 

 giving rise to one or more blackish hairs; 

 there are also a few whitish hairs along the 

 sides of the body. Fig. 174 represents a partly-grown specimen 

 of this or a very closely allied species. 



About the middle of July the moth (Fig. 175) escapes 

 from the cocoon. The thorax and abdomen are gray, dotted 



