72 
AGRICULTURAL REPORT. 
Wherever these caterpillars were very abundant, I counted from 
ten to fifteen eggs on a single leaf, which are very small, and difficult 
to be distinguished from the leaves themselves, on account of their 
green color. In shape, the eggs are round and flat, and, when exam- 
ined under a microscope, they appear regularly furrowed or ribbed. 
I heir color, when freshly deposited, is of a beautiful semi-transparent 
sea-green. They are closely attached to the leaf on which they are 
laid I am thus particular to state this, because, in an able article 
published some time ago, it was alleged that “the egg is fixed upon 
the leaf by a small filament attached by a glutinous substance.’’ 
I Ins mistake might the more easily be made by any person who had 
not himself observed the eggs when hatching, as that of the lace-wing 
fly is held by such a filament, and, moreover, is found in similar 
situations on the leaves, but generally with or near a colony of plant 
lice, where the instinct of the parent lace-wing fly teaches it to de- 
posit its eggs, and thus provide for a supply of fresh food for the young 
larvie, which feed upon and destroy millions of the cotton-lice. There 
is a great difference also between the eggs of the caterpillar moth and 
those of the boll-worm moth, the first being, "as before stated, round 
and flattened in shape, and green in color, whereas those of the boll- 
worm moth are not flat, but more of an ovoid shape, and of a dirty-ycJ- 
lowish tinge. I cannot state exactly what time is required to hatch ’the 
eggs after they have been laid by the parent fly, as I could not succeed 
in procuring any from the moths hatched and kept in confinement, 
although carefully preserved for the purpose. Dr. Capers says that 
it requires from fourteen to twenty days ; but the eggs I found in the 
fields invariably hatched within a week from the time they were 
brought into the house. However, this must depend a great deal 
upon the state of the atmosphere and the warmth of the season. The 
young caterpillars, when hatched, very soon commence feeding upon 
the parenchyma, or soft, fleshy part of the leaves, and continue to do 
so until they become sufficiently large, and strong enough to eat the 
leaf itself. They are able to suspend themselves by a silken thread 
ion shaken from the plant. They change their skins several times 
before attaining their full growth, when they measure from one and a 
half to nearly two inches in length. The first brood of caterpillars, in 
August and September, were all of a green color, with narrow, longi- 
udinal light stripes along each side of their bodies, and two broader 
light-yellowish stripes along each side of their backs, down the centre 
of each of which was one distinct, narrow, lighf^colored line. Each 
of the broader bands was marked with two black spots on each seg- 
ment ; and on each segment of the sides were three or more dark dots 
1 he head was yellowish-green, spotted with black. The caterpillars 
of the second and third generations are of a much darker color than 
those of the first; their under parts are more of a yellowish-o-reen 
and their sides sometimes of a purple cast; their backs are black* with 
three distinct light-colored lines running down their length ; and 
their heads are also darker, and of a yellowish-brown, spotted with 
UldC K . 
The question naturally arises, What causes this change of color in 
the latter part of the season, since the moths hatched from the lightest 
