183 
of winter, when it creeps under stones, boards, brush or anything that 
may give it shelter, making an oval cocoon of its hairs the following 
April or May, and comes out as a moth in June or July; but in warm¬ 
er latitudes there are probably two broods instead of one. The hairs 
on the first four and last two segments of the body, are black, but the 
rest are dark red. Head and body, black. 
This moth is of a uniform dark ochre yellow, with a slight brown¬ 
ish tinge on the fore wings, and a little pinkish on the hind. There 
is a row of black spots round the outer margin, and a dash of the 
same across the end of the discal cell of each wing, besides which 
there are two extra spots at the apex, and one in the middle of the 
fore wings. On the under side these marks are plainer. The body 
is rather robust; has a dorsal and lateral row of black dots. Ex¬ 
panse of wings two and a quarter inches. 
Leucarctia acr^ea, Smith. 
Larva when full grown measures an inch and three-quarters. It is 
clothed with long hairs, which are black or brown on the back and 
fore part of the body; of a lighter brown on the sides. The hairs 
grow in spreading clusters, from }*ellowish colored warts, that are in 
transverse rows across the body. The body is yellow, shaded at the 
sides with black, with a blackish dorsal line. Stigmata white, show¬ 
ing very distinctly through the hairs. 
Expanse of wings of the moth from two to two and a half inches. 
Male: Fore wings rather narrow, usually white above, dotted with 
about twenty black dots, five of w'hich, larger than the rest, are on the 
costa. Hind wings, deep ochre yellow, with four or five black dots. 
Antennse and eyes, black. Head, thorax and tips of abdomen, white; 
the rest of the abdomen deep ochre yellow, with a row of black dots 
on the dorsum. All the under parts are deep ochre yellow, with the 
wings dotted wfith black; a row of black dots, in a white band, on 
each side of the abdomen, and a row of black dots under the center. The 
female differs from the male in being white, dotted with black as in 
the male, except the basal two-thirds of the abdomen, which is ochre. 
The food plants of this species embrace the tender leaves of most of 
our cultivated plants, as well as many indiginous weeds and grasses. 
There are two broods of the caterpillars in a season. Were it not for 
the insect parasites, it would be a very destructive insect; and upon 
these we are chiefly dependent for its destruction. Hand-picking is 
the best means of destroying them where they become locally num¬ 
erous. 
Spilosomca Virginica, Fab.—The Virginia Ermine Moth. 
The caterpillar of this species, called by Hr. Harris the Yellow 
Bear, is found from June to October on a great variety of plants, 
among which are peas, beans, cabbages, corn, grapes, etc., eating a 
great variety of young and tender leaves without apparent discrimina- 
