LEPIDOP TER A . 
265 
fore part of the thorax a conspicuous patch of darker color. 
In most of our species the fore wings are also marked with a 
dot near the center of the discal 
cell and a bar on the discal vein. 
These moths belong to the genus 
Dat ana. The common name, 
Handmaid, is a translation of the 
specific name of our most com¬ 
mon species, D. ministra (D. 
mi-nis'tra). But as this species 
is now generally known as the Yellow-necked Apple-tree 
Worm, and as all of our species are dressed in sober at¬ 
tire as becomes modest servants, we have applied the term 
Handmaid Moths to the entire genus. 
The larvae of the Handmaid Moths are easily recognized 
by their peculiar habits. They are common on various fruit 
and forest trees, but especially on apple, oak, and hickory. 
They feed in colonies; and have the habit of assuming the 
Fig. 313.— Datana y larva. 
curious attitude shown in Figure 313. The body is black or 
reddish, marked with lines or stripes of yellow or white. 
Owing to the gregarious habits of these larvae they can be 
easily collected from the'trees they infest. 
All of the species that we have studied agree in being 
single-brooded, the moths appearing in midsummer; the 
