POPLAR CATERPILLARS. 447 
Professor Riley thus sums up the leading points in the history of this 
pest (Bull. 10, Div. Ent.) : 
The White-marked Tussock moth has a very beautiful hairy larva or caterpillar 
marked with black and yellow and red. The female cocoons are to be found during 
the winter on the trees and upon neighboring fences aud tree-boxes, and each 
cocoon is plastered with a number of eggs, protected by a white, frothy, glutinous 
covering. The eggs hatch in spring aud the youug worms feed upon the fresh leaves. 
The males spin their cocoons after three molts and the females after four. The moths 
issue in July, pair aud lay eggs for a second brood of worms, which in turn transform 
and bring forth moths in October, the eggs from which hibernate. The male moth 
is active, with ample wings, which are brown, with a conspicuous white spot, while 
the female is pale and wingless, and only crawls out of her cocoon to lay her eggs 
thereon and die. This species is never found on evergreens, and is chiefly injurious 
to elms and maples, and prefers large and old trees to young ones because of the 
greater shelter which they oifer for its cocoons. In Washington it is yet chiefly con- 
fined to our parks, and it has not begun to.be as injurious as in cities like Philadel- 
phia and Baltimore, where the trees are older and larger. Two probable egg-para- 
sites and seven parasites of larva and pupa are known to me. 
Mrs. Diinmock gives a summary of what is known of its history 
(Psyche, iv, p. 280) as follows : 
Orgyia leucostigma Abb. and Smith (Nat. Hist. Lepid. Ins. Ga., 1797, v. 2, p. 157, pi. 
79). Harris (Rept. Ins. Injur. Veg., 1841, pp. 261-263) describes the eggs, larva, and 
imago of this species ; apple and Rosa are given as food-plants. The same author 
(Treatise on Ins. Injur. Veg., 1862, pp. 366-368) figures and describes the eggs, larva, 
cocoon, and male and female imagos, and adds Aesculus hippoeastaneum to the food- 
plants; later (Entom. Corresp., 1869, p. 291) he adds further Salix, Celiis, and Carya 
to the food-plants. Fitch (First and Second Rept. Ins. N. Y., 1856, pp. 202-220) de- 
scribes the different stages of this species, noting in addition to food-plants mentioned 
above, Ulmus, Acer, Quercus, and plum. Riley (First Ann. Rept. State Entom. Mo., 1869, 
pp. 144-147) figures and describes briefly the eggs, larva, pupa, cocoon, and male and 
female imagos; the figure of the larva is repeated in Amer. Entom., Sept. 1870, v. 2, 
p. 306. Saunders (Can. Entom., Apr. 1871, v. 3, pp. 14-15) repeats Riley's figure of 
the larva, and describes the egg and egg-mas. Packard (Bull. 7, U. S. Entom. Conim., 
1881, p. 239) repeats Riley's figures of the different stages of this species. Coleman 
(Papilio, November and December 1882, v. 2, pp. 164-166) describes some variations 
in the coloration of the larvae. Clarkson (Can. Entom., Sept. 1883, v. 15, p. 168) 
mentions that this larva particularly attacks the silver-leaf Populus, and calls atten- 
tion to the fact that ichneumons oviposit in cocoons of this species. The larva feeds 
upon Betula alba and B. lenta. 
13. Orgyia antiqua Linn. 
The larva of this common European species, which I have found on 
the aspen and poplar-leaved birch, as well as the thorn tree, differs 
from that of O. leucostigma in having three pairs of lateral tufts, one in 
front arising from the segment next to the head, and two others, a small 
white one, arising from the first abdominal segment, and a larger 
longer black pencil arising from the second segment; while the body is 
black. I observed the moth many years ago flying about the house early 
in September, if I remember correctly. The caterpillar becomes- full- 
fed about the middle of August and remains in the pupa state a few 
days, inclosed in a loose cocoon, on the outside of which the eggs are 
laid by the wingless female. 
