Delaware tribune. [volume] (Wilmington, Del.) 1867-1877, 1869-07-22
From Moore's Rural New Yorker,]
Rap-Worma.

J. r. FLICK, Dover, Del. THE insects you
send are yariously known as bag-worms,
basket-worms Or drop-worms Throughout |
the winter tue weather beaten bags o. this
insect may be seen hanging from almost
every kind of tree. Upon plucking them
many will be found empty, but the greater
proportion of them will, on being cut open,
Dr found parity iull of soft yellow eggs.
Those which do not contain eggs are tue
male bags, and his empty chfysalis skin is
generally found protruding from the lower
end. From the middle to the end OF May, in
the latitude OF ST. Louis, these eggs hatch in
| to little active brown worms, which, frem
| The first moment of their lives, com
mence to form for themselves coverings.
| They crawl on to a tender leaf, and, attach
ed by the anterior legs, with their tails hoist
ed in the air, they each spin around them
selves ring Of silk, TO which they soon last
| en- bits of leaf They continue adding TO the
| lower edge of the ring, pushing II up as i
increases in width, till 1t reaches the tail and
forms sort of cone.
AS the worms grow, they continue to in
crease their bags from the bottom, until the
latter becoming SO large and heavy that the
worms allow them to hang, instead OF hold
ing them upright, as they did while they
were young. BY the end OF July. the worms
acquire their full growth. AT this stage the
worm on being pulled out of its bag or folli-
: Gle, presents clumsy appearance, that por-
ton of the body which is always covered 10y
the bag, being soft, and of dull, smoky
brown. inclining to reddish at the sides
while the three anterior. or thoracic seq
| ments, which are exposed when the insect Is
/ feeding or marching, are horny, and mottlet
| with black and white The prolegs, or hid
part of the body, are but poorly developed
and consist of but slight wart like proiec
/ lions they are furnished, however, with nu
merous small hooks, which answer an adni
rabe purpose.in enabling the bearer to cling
10 his home-spun coat, which shelters bin
from the weather, and defends him from hi
a enemies, and which is even more essential Il
0 his existence than are the clothes We wcar,t'
ours The worms do not arrive at their full
grown condition without passing throug
critical periods. AT four different times dur
+ ing their growth they close up the mouths I
Is their bags. and retire for two days to cas-
e their skins or moult, us is the nature of thei
kind, and they push their old skins throug
lf passage which is always left open at th
re extremity Of the bag, and which also allow
the election of the excrement.
n During their growth they are very slo'
y travellers, and seldom leave the tree o
A which they We're born but when full grow
4 time that they wander by the day, droppin
n on to persons with their silken threads, al
III crossing the sidewalks Of our cities in Il
y directions Ii is from this habit OF droppr
Sc on TO persons that they have been Gale
IN "Drop~wornls. A wise instinct urges the
se to thus wander from place to place, Tor d
ie they remain on one tree, they would SOC
a multiply beyond the power Of that tree
he sustain them, and would in consequence d
he come extinct. When they have lost tn,
he migratory desires, they tastes their la
ne very securely by ii strong band Of silk To t
ss twigs Of the tree IN which they happen
on be- Here again Il strange instinct lea
ar. them TO thus tasten their c1coons To Il
.'X tigi9s only Of the tree they inhabit, so ih
lr. these cocoons will remain through the wi
" ter. and not to the leaf stock, where III
lge would be blown down with the leaf
ger After thus fastening their bags, they Ii
'nl tnCm with a good thickness Of soft VIII
y silk, and after turning around in the bag
4 .us to have The head towards the lower q
M flee, they rest a willie from their abors, a
10, at last cast their skins and become chrysal
en- Hitherto the worms had all been alike, b
VIC now the sexes are disiinguishable, the N
m chrysalis being but half the size Of that Of
female, Three weeks afterward Il 5
~ sreatcr change takes place, the sexes dill
tuc pntailng sun more. the male chly'
IS wutss himself down towards the end Of
iliss hug and, hungiug half way ont, the s
MN bursts.
the From taa .afc.au. account Of nc b
the Wurm. il h.comes Obvious that nv bun,
lses NE cases IN winter time, the trees can
o"r easily rii oftdom II this is done when
ilrsf tiw BAGS are Observed tn" task
We purkius Neht bu whore Il Is 4pi Il,
4 ~ Ne wnan- viii cantiuue 10 iuCreasc,
IRE pir;} jofoil ting TIM 'ree caca year, So
7 L-li LmL alll IN -Nn i M