Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1906-01-09

1 with TUFTS Of rich DARK Drown na1r. On
each of the tenth and eleventh segments
is round, lemon yellow dorsal tubercle,
with depressed center. These grad
ually change to an orange red during
this second stage. At this time they
much resemble the young Of the tus-
sock and gypsy oaterpillars, In fact 1t
| would be difficult to distinguish the
difference by casual observer, as they
each have the orange markings on the
tenth and eleventh segments.
They have now reached the hibernat-
ing period and are about three-sixteenths
of an inch long and show but slight
variations in markings, although they
continue to grow darker in color. The
head is quite prominent, dull black in
color. The tubercles are shining black,
the reddish brown hairs are much longer
and darker. They remain over winter In
| this condition.
As soon as the buds start In the spring
the larv8 crawl out of their winter
homes and again enter the active stage.
They were found feeding about the mid
die of April, but they returned to their
silken tents during the cold nights of
spring.
The first spring moult was noticed
about two weeks after they began to
feed. They were then about three
eighths of an inch in length. The body
is dark slate color with lighter mark
ings. They are indistinct, broken dor
sal and medal lines of the same color.
The subdorsal tufts on the fifth and
sixth segments are more prominent.
T.. fc
about flve-eighths of an inch, the colors
are somewhat darker and the broken
dorsal and medal lines have changed to
an orange color. Also small tuft of
white hairs appears between the sub
dorsal tufts of golden brown hairs.
At the fifth moult the body is dark,
with light yellow irregular markings.
Tufts of short, white hairs occur on the
upper edge of the medal row of tuber-
cles, extending from the fifth to the
twelfth segment inclusive, eight on each
side. A smaller tuft of hairs projects
from the tubercles along the submedial
row. An irregular light orange line ex-
tends along the side between the rows
of white tufts.
The last moult occurs about the mid
die of June, when the Larvae are from
one and one-eighth to one and one-fOurth
inches long. We now see the caterpil-
lars with their final markings. The
body is of dark slate color, with
irregular yellow and orange markings,
all of the tubercles are black, with long
projecting hairs of q reddish brown
color. There is double broken dorsal
line of orange yellow. The large patches
of short white hairs located between the
medal and subdOrsal tubercles are very
noticeable and are the characteristic
markings for this caterpillar. They attain
their full size about the last of June,
when they are from one and half to
two inches in length.
The mature larva now seeks con-
venient place in which to pupate, gen.
orally among the leaves of the tree
where it fed. In the breeding cages
they congregated in large numbers in
the corners and there spun few silken
threads, just enough to retain them in
place. They then thew off their cater
pillar skin and appeared in the pupa
form. These are of the usual reddish
brown color, from five-eighths to three
quarters of an inch in length, depending
upon the sex. In the breeding cages the
moths began to hatch on June 2S, which
is about two weeks earlier than dis
covered them in field observation. On
June S0th the females were laying their
eggs.
THE ADULT INSECT.
The moths are pure white, with the
exception of the abdomen which is of
brownish shade. The characteristic
tuft of golden brown hair on the end of
the abdomen of the female gives 1t the
name, "the brown-tail moth" The un-
der anterior edge of the fore wings in
the male is dark brown. Expanse of
wings, from 1-S to 1-2 inc hes.
WINTER HOMES.
As soon as the tiny caterpillars hatch
from the eggs they begin feeding on the
soft tissue of the leaves on which they
were laid. In this process the leaves are
partially skeletonized, leaving them Of
dull brown color. In the meantime the
caterpillars are drawing few leaves to-
gether by means of silken threads to
construct their winter home. The
leaves are fastened securely to the twig
by the silk threads which follow the
petioles and are then wound around the
twig. This nest is made up of num-
Der of cells constructed of silk, into
which the young larvae crawl and re-
main dormant through the winter. AS
the silk is good nonconductor, this is
the reason they can stand the severe cold
of our Maine winters. The nests are
generally attached to the terminal
shoots Of the new growth so that they
are easily removed with but slight dam
age to the tree. In fact, the damage
done to the trees by the young cater
pillars in the fall is very slight unless
they are quite abundant.