300 



AiV ECONOMIC ENTOMOLOGY. 



by the application of a stomach poison, the caterpillar succumb- 

 ing readily to any of those in ordinary use. 



There is a series of decidedly depressed or flattened moths with 

 narrow, long fore-wings, broad hind wings, a somewhat retracted 

 head clothed with stift", projecting vestiture, and a neat little tuft 

 on the anterior part of the thoracic collar. These belong to the 

 genus Xylina, or its near alHes, and they appear late in fall, to 

 hibernate as adults. In spring they reappear as soon as the 

 w^eather becomes in the least warm, and moths of this kind are 



often found in maple groves while sugaring is going on. Some- 

 times sap-pails are found in the morning with the surface of the 

 liquid completely covered with these insects, which, taken as a 

 whole, are northern, though some extend south and southwest, 

 and even to the Pacific coast. One of the most common is the 

 X. ante7inata, the caterpillar of which has been described by 

 Riley as boring into fruits ; but it is a rare species, comparatively, 

 and no marked injury is ever done. 



Now we reach a group of moths in which the caterpillars 

 usually lack one pair of the false or abdominal legs, and for this 

 reason are known as " semi-loopers," having somewhat the 

 methods of motion found in the "span-worm," but not to so 

 marked an extent. Of this series we have several more or less 

 troublesome species, and the most important are the "cotton- 

 worms" belonging to the genera A7iomis and Aletia, all of them 

 feeding upon the leaves. The larvae are similar in appearance, 

 green, more or less narrowly banded at the sides, and spotted. 



Fig. 338. 



Xylina anteiinata : a, its larva in peach ; b, adult moth. 



