[51] t Report of the State Entomologist. 193 



Boisduval: in Ann. Soc. Ent. Belg., xv, 1871-2, p. 87, pi. 3, f. 5 of larva 



(Adolecephala). 



Lintxer: Ent. Contrib., No. II, 1872, p. 51-2; and in 24th Kept. N. Y. St. 



Mus. N. H., 1872, p. 155-6 (larval notes). 

 Treat : in Amer. Agricul., xxxiii, 1874, p. 344 (habits). 

 French: in 7th Kept. Ins. 111., 1878, p. 19G (brief description); in 10th Bept. 



do., 1881, p. 120 (larva described). 

 Coquillett \ in 10th Bept. Ins. 111., 1881, p. 161 (larva described). 

 Clarkson : in Papilio, ii, 1882, p. 188 (abundance in Columbia Co.). 

 Claypole: in Canad. Entomol., xv, 1883, p. 36 (abundance in Penn.). 

 Dimmock, A. K. : in Psyche, iv, 1885, p. 275 (bibliography and food-plants). 



The caterpillar of this species, although it may not claim high rank 

 in a list of our insect enemies as the cause of serious harm and 

 pecuniary loss, yet, it at times presents itself to our notice in such 

 vast numbers, and its defoliation of the trees that it infests is so 

 marked and startling, that it is not strange that fears are ofttimes 

 entertained lest its ravages should extend to other vegetation which 

 would at once transform it into a formidable pest. To meet the 

 inquiries that are from time to time made of its habits, and the 

 information that is desired of it, the following somewhat extended 

 account has been prepared, from notes made several years ago and 

 from published notices in scattered works, many of which are named 

 in the bibliography above given. 



• 



The Egg-laying. 



The large and conspicuous moth, which will be noticed hereafter, 

 was observed by me at Center, N. Y. (now Earner), July 7, 1869, 

 depositing its eggs on the under surface of oak leaves, distributing 

 them over the surface in large patches, in a single layer, in close con- 

 tact with one another. A leaf of Quercus prinoides of ordinary size 

 was plucked, which had one-half of its surface covered with the eggs. 

 From a count of a portion of the deposit, and an estimate of the 

 remainder, the number of eggs was 500. This may be accepted as 

 the ordinary number from a single moth — usually placed in separate 

 patches on a leaf, or on two or more leaves. 



The female, doubtless, oviposits soon after emerging from the 

 pupa. Her abdomen is so greatly distended with her burden of eggs 

 that she is unfitted for flight and almost helpless. On one occasion 

 my attention was drawn to some commotion in the sand of a roadway 

 at Center, not recognized at the distance, when, on approaching 

 nearer, it was seen to be a female senatoria, which was being knocked 

 and rolled helplessly and ludicrously about in the ardor with which 

 a half-dozen males flying above and around her were striving for her 

 possession. 



25 



