432 
LEPIDOPTERA. 
There are a few short, whitish hairs thinly scattered over the 
body, which is pale yellow, with three slender black lines 
on the back, and a broad dusky stripe, also marked with 
three black lines, on each side; and the head, fore legs, and 
spiracles are black. When fully grown, these caterpillars 
measure about an inch and a half in length. They live 
together, in swarms of twenty or 
more individuals, in a nest (Fig. 
214) made of a single leaf fold¬ 
ed or curled at the sides, and 
lined with a thin web of silk. 
An opening is left at each end 
of the nest; throuo:h the lower 
one the dirt made by the in¬ 
sects falls, and through the up¬ 
per one, which is next to the 
leaf-stalk, the caterpillars go out 
to feed upon the leaves near 
to their nests. When young 
they sometimes fold up one 
side of a leaf for a nest, and 
eat the other half. The stalks 
of the leaves, to which their 
nests are hung, become covered 
with silk from the threads car- 
I 
lied along by the caterpillars 
in going over them; and thes^ 
threads help to secure the nests 
to the branches. They eat all parts of the leaves except the 
stalks and larger veins, and frequently strip long shoots of 
their foliage in a very few days. Towards the end of Sep¬ 
tember or early in October, according to the age of the 
different broods, they descend from the trees, disperse, and 
seek a shelter in crevices or under leaves and rubbish on 
the ground, where they make their cocoons. These are 
thin, irregular, silken webs, so loosely spun that the in- 
