THE AMERICAN LACKEY-CATERPILLAR. 373 
two oblique, straight, dirty white lines. It expands from 
one inch and a quarter to one inch, and a half, or a little 
more. This moth* closely resembles the castrensis, and 
still more the Neustria of Europe, from both of which, 
however, it is easily distinguished by the oblique lines on 
the fore wings, which are not wavy as in the foreign spe- 
cies. Moreover, the caterpillar is very different from both 
of the European lackeys ; and it does not seem probable that 
either of them, if introduced into this country, could have 
so wholly lost their original characters. Our insect belongs 
to the same genus, or kind, now called Clisiocampa , or 
tent-caterpillar, from its habits ; and I propose to distin- 
guish it furthermore from its near allies by the name of 
Americana, the American tent-caterpillar or lackey. The 
moths appear in great numbers in July, flying about and 
often entering houses by night. At this time they lay their 
eggs, selecting the wild cherry, in preference to all other 
trees, for this purpose, and, next to these, apple-trees, the 
extensive introduction and great increase of which, in this 
country, afford an abundant and tempting supply of food 
to the caterpillars, in the place of the native cherry-trees 
that formerly, it would seem, sufficed for their nourishment. 
These insects, because they are the most common and most 
abundant in all parts of our country, and have obtained 
such notoriety that in common language they are almost 
exclusively known among us by the name of the caterpil- 
lars, are the worst enemies of the orchard. Where proper 
attention has not been paid to the destruction of them, they 
prevail to such an extent as almost entirely to strip the 
apple and cherry trees of their foliage, by their attacks 
* A short but very accurate account of this insect may bo found in the late 
Professor Peck’s “Natural History of the Cankar-Worm,” printed at Boston, 
among the papers of the Massachusetts Society for promoting Agriculture, in 
die year 1790. Professor Peck seems to have been aware that it was not identical 
With the Neustria, but he forbore to give it another scientific name. It is figured, 
in its different forms, in Mr. Abbot's “ Natural History of the Insects of Georgia," 
where it is named castrensis by Sir J. E. Smith, the editor of the work. 
