BOMBYCIDS. 
87 
eaves. They are oval in form, light colored and thin, and intermixed 
with the threads is a yellowish-white substance which seems to give 
stiffness to the cocoon. About two weeks after the cocoon is finished 
the moth makes its escape through a hole in one end which it moist¬ 
ens, it is said, with a secretion from its mouth, enabling the insect to 
push the loosened threads aside. The moth expands from an inch 
Clisiocampa americana. 
to an inch and a half or over, the male being smaller than the female. 
The body of the insect is woolly, and is of a rusty brown color, its 
fore wings being crossed by a lighter band edged on either side by a 
narrow grayish-yellow line. The male is somewhat darker than the 
female. 
This insect in its caterpillar state is so injurious to apple orchards 
that its destruction becomes a necessity to keep the trees in bearing 
condition. It is not a difficult insect to combat, as its clusters of 
eggs are easily seen during the fall and winter, and can be picked off 
by hand and burned. When the young larvae first begin their opera¬ 
tions in the spring their nests may easily be taken from the trees and 
each colony destroyed in its infancy. To insure success in this work 
the tents should be removed either early in the morning or late in 
the afternoon, or else on stormy days when the whole colony is at 
home. A piece of coarse burlap wound around the end of a pole and 
saturated with kerosene oil will be found well fitted for the work, as 
the oil will destroy the caterpillars which it touches even if they are 
not removed with the tent. To keep one’s orchard cleared of these 
pests the nests should be destroyed not only on the orchard trees but 
also on all neglected trees in the neighborhood infested by them, 
especially the wild cherry-tree, which seems to be the favorite food 
plant of the species. Two or three neglected trees will breed moths 
enough to stock several orchards with the pest the following spring. 
The parasites probably do more to hold these insects in check 
than all other agents (man included) put together. If one will 
