130 
Apatela lepusculina, G-ue. The Cottonwood Dagger. 
When young this larva is 
very light, almost white with 
a distinct black dorsal line, 
short black tufts and sparse¬ 
ly covered with white hairs; 
when full-grown it is of a 
greenish yellow color thickly 
covered with long soft bright 
yellow hairs, which do not 
proceed from tubercles, but 
grow immediately from the 
body and turn from the mid¬ 
dle of the back, curling round 
the sides; there are two lit¬ 
tle black spots on the top 
Fig. 42.— Apatela lepuicuiina. of both the first and second 
segments with a pale yellow line between, and from the top of 4, fi, 
7, 8, and 11 there proceeds a straight black brush; it remains curled 
round upon the leaf when at rest. First brood found upon the 
leaves of the Cottoirwood (Populus monilefera ) in June, the second 
brood in July and September. It frequently defoliates the tree ; when 
about to transform it seeks some sheltered place in a chink of the 
tree or under the cap of a fence in which to form a chrysalis, which 
is dark shiny brown and encased in a pale yellow cocoon formed of 
silk intermingled with the hairs of the caterpillar. 
These caterpillars vary considerably, some having but three tufts, 
some having a sixth on the ninth segment, others having some 
black hairs. 
Apatela americana, Harr. The American Maple Moth. 
The larva of this species is one of the largest of the group, and 
wdien full grown measures from If to 2 inches in length. It is of 
a greenish-black color, covered with long soft yellow hairs. On 
the top of each segment is an oval greenish-yellow spot, situated 
transversely, and a transverse yellow depressed line in the middle. 
On each side of each segment are about four raised black dots; 
body sparsely covered with long black bristles, which are spear- 
shaped at the tip, and proceed from the skin or from warts. On 
top of the fourth segment there are two long, slender, erect tufts of 
black hairs, and one on the eleventh. The divisions between the 
segments are very deep. On each side of the yellow spot on the 
first, fourth to ninth, and eleventh and twelfth segments there are 
two hairs longer than the rest. Stomata black; underside, feet and 
tip of body black. Head, chestnut-brown ; bilobed. Feeds on Maple, 
Elm, Linden, Chestnut, Cottonwood and Poplar. 
This, like the previous species, when at rest, is curled up on a 
leaf, and seeks a sheltered place to undergo its transformations, the 
moth appearing in July. 
