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presence of these creatures was the complete denudation of some branches of the trees,, 

 and on making a close inspection, the owner would find a community of caterpillars busily 

 engaged in the work of destruction. 



These noxious insects, though formerly rare and seldom noticed in Canada, have been 

 long observed in the United States. So early as the year 1773, Mr. Drury, a distinguish- 

 ed English entomologist, described and figured the moth into which these caterpillars 

 turn, specimens having been collected for him in the State of New York. He named it 

 the Phaloena ministra, the Handmaiden Moth ; it is now known by the appellation of 

 Datana ministra, or the Yellow- necked Apple-tree Caterpillar. Dr. Fitch relates its occur- 

 rence in great numbers in the State of New York in 1853 and 1858 ; in 1868 we noticed 

 it in several localities, as well as in 1865, but it is not abundant every year. It belongs 

 to the family Notodontidse, of the order Lepidoptera, most of the members of which are 

 very destructive in their habits. The great peculiarity of this family, and one which is „ 

 eminently characteristic of the species before us, is the extraordinary posture often assum- 

 ed by the caterpillars. When at rest after eating,. they are usually crowded together as 

 closely as possible upon the twigs where they have been feeding, clinging to them with 

 the four intermediate pairs of pro-legs, and with the extremities of their bodies raised up- 

 wards. If touched, or otherwise disturbed, they throw 

 their tails upward with a jerk, and at the same time 

 bend their heads backwards semicircularly, till the two- 

 extremities almost meet. In this position they will re- 

 main for a considerable time, presenting, as may be im- 

 agined, a very odd and grotesque appearance. The ac- 

 companying illustration (Fig. 26) will enable the reader 

 to form some idea of this peculiarity, as well as of the 

 ordinary appearance of the caterpillar. 

 The eggs from which these caterpillars come forth are laid in patches of about a hun- 

 dred together, on the ixnder side of the terminal leaves of a limb, and the young are hatched 

 out about the end of July, or beginning of August ; sometimes there are other broods 

 later in the season. At first they eat only the green substance (parenchyma) of the under- 

 side of the leaves, the upper side and veins remaining untouched ; but as they gradually 

 increase in size and powers of digestion, and consequently of appetite also, they consume all 

 but the stem, and a portion of the mid rib. Beginning, thus, with the fresh and tender 

 leaves at the end of the branch, they descend by degrees, devouring all before them, till 

 the limb is perfectly bare. 



When first hatched from the egg, these caterpillars are less than a quarter of an inch 

 in length, tawny yellow, with black heads and feet, and four narrow, pale yellow stripes 

 along each side of the body, the whole being thinly clothed with fine whitish hairs. When 

 fully-grown, the ground color of the caterpillar is black, with the pale yellow stripes as 

 at first ; the head is black, the second segment, or neck, as it may be termed, is yellow 

 and wax-like (whence its common English name); the fore-legs and claws are black, while 

 the four pair of intermediate pro-legs are waxy yellow, spotted with black. Its greatest 

 length is about two inches. 



The caterpillar state lasts five or six weeks, at the end of which time they descend to 

 the earth, and become transformed into chrysalids, a few inches below the surface ; there 

 they remain till the following summer, the perfect insect or moth not appearing till the 

 following June or July. 



These moths are of a light brown color ; the head and a large rectangular spot on 

 the thorax are deep chestnut brown ; the fore wings are crossed by four nearly parallel 

 lines, of a rusty brown color ; the hind wings are pale yellow, without markings. They 

 measure from an inch and three-quarters to two inches and a half across the wings. The 

 moths themselves are not very often met with, but are sometimes attracted indoors by 

 lights at night. 



The best mode of staying the ravages of the caterpillars is to go round all the trees 

 in the garden or orchard, and examine closely wherever the end of a branch appears to be 

 stripped of its leaves. Should this insect be the cause of the denudation, it will be readily 

 found, and the caterpillars can be easily destroyed by simply cutting off the twig on 



