116 
$ 
The moth appears as early as June 9th, and can be seen flying in 
the forest as late as the 25th. During the daytime they can be found 
on the leaves of the oak. Dr. Boardman writes me under date of June 
5th : “The oak-pests commenced their work about the 20th of May. 
I have observed them for the past four years from the 20th to 25th of 
May, but not in any great quantities. This season they force themselves 
upon our attention, since we cannot pass through the forest without 
being loaded with them, while the trees are as bare as in winter; hun¬ 
dreds of acres are nearly stripped of their leaves, the larger trees 
suffering more than the smaller,” and F. M. Webster, July 2nd, says * 
“ I send specimens of a small green caterpillar destructive to the 
foliage of the red oaks, Q. rubra. They were collected when passing 
along the public road; on both sides the red oaks were almost denuded 
of their foliage. Standing under the trees the fall of the larvae upon 
the ground, as they let themselves down by means of a silken thread,, 
sounded like rain pattering on the grass, while the threads were so 
thick as to be noticed several rods away, the space between the lower 
limbs and the ground being literally white.” 
Owing to the number occurring the past summer the natural habit 
of concealment was abandoned and the whole leaf eaten. When 
disturbed suddenly they immediately dropped, suspended in the air 
by a fine silken thread, which after a time they again climbed up, re¬ 
suming their work. These silken threads can be seen a long distance 
off. The usual custom of changing to the chrysalis inside the leaf 
was prevented by the utter defoliation of the trees, and they were 
forced to artificial means. 
Scattered throughout the forest were many small cottonwood trees 
and hazel brush which grew in small patches ; to the leaves of these 
many caterpillars resorted for a place of concealment wherein to 
change to the chrysalis. The greater number crawled under the bark 
of the oak trees upon the south and southwest sides, covering the en¬ 
tire bark from the lower limbs to the ground with a silken veil thick 
and continuous enough to be taken off in strips. This w r as of a yel¬ 
lowish white color, and could be seen some distance off, producing a 
very pleasant effect to the eye w T hen the rays of the sun fell upon it 
making it glisten and sparkle ; this mass was intended, undoubtedly, 
as a means of defence from insect enemies, and that of farther con¬ 
cealment than was afforded by the bark. 
The chrysalis, which is of a brown color measuring from one-quarter 
to nearly one-half an inch long, was suspended from the posterior end 
secured by a few threads of silk ; as many as a dozen chrysalids were 
suspended from one common centre, and, like many of the same 
family, would wriggle about violently when disturbed. Since Dr. 
Asa Fitch has written all that has hitherto been known of the insect 
and its habits, and his valuable reports are not easily obtained at the 
present time, I append what he says in full: 
“ The fore part of June, the sides of particular leaves curved up¬ 
ward and drawn slightly together by numerous cobweb-like threads, 
beneath which lies a slender grass-green, sixteen-footed worm about 
three-fourths of an inch long and thickness of a rye straw, which eats 
the ends of the leaf, and passes its pupa state in the same situation; 
about the first of July giving out a small moth of a pale straw color 
