Chapter 2

The expanded wings, Fig. 12, male, measure about two inches, are white above, with the base dusky. Both sexes have the apex black and a black spot a little beyond the middle, and the female, Fig. 13, has another spot below this. The under side of the fore wings is white, yellowish toward the apex, and with two black spots in both sexes corresponding to those on the upper side of the female. A little beyond the middle of the costa, on the hind wings, is an irregular black spot on the upper surface, while the under surface is pale lemon yellow without marks, but sprinkled more or less with dark atoms. The body is black above and white beneath.

The caterpillars of this insect feed on the leaves of cabbage, cauliflower, turnip, mignonette, and some other plants.

The female lays her eggs on the under side of the leaves of the food plants, generally, but sometimes on the upper sides or even on the leaf stalks. They are sugar loaf shaped, flattened at the base, and with the apex cut off square at the top, pale lemon yellow in color, about one twenty-fifth of an inch long and one fourth as wide, and have twelve longitudinal ribs with fine cross lines between them.

The eggs hatch in about a week, and the young caterpillars, which are very pale yellow, first eat the shells from which they have escaped, and then spin a carpet of silk, upon which they remain except when feeding. They now eat small round holes through the leaves, but as they grow older change to a greenish color, with a pale yellow line along the back, and a row of small yellow spots along the sides, and eat their way down into the head of the cabbage.

Having reached its full growth, the caterpillar, Fig. 14, a, which is about an inch in length, wanders off to some sheltered place, as under a board, fence rail, or even under the edge of clapboards on the side of a building, where it spins a button of silk, in which to secure its hind legs, then the loop of silk to support the forward part of the body.

It now casts its skin, changing to a chrysalis, Fig. 14, b, about three-fourths of an inch in length, quite rough and uneven, with projecting ridges and angular points on the back, and the head is prolonged into a tapering horn. In color they are very variable, some are pale green, others are flesh colored or pale ashy gray, and sprinkled with numerous black dots. The winter is passed in the chrysalis stage.

After the caterpillar changes to a chrysalis, their minute parasites frequently bore through the outside and deposit their eggs within. These hatch before the time for the butterflies to emerge, and feeding on the contents, destroy the life of the chrysalis.

Birds and spiders are of great service in destroying these insects.

The pupæ should be collected and burned if the abdomen is flexible; but if the joints of the abdomen are stiff and cannot be easily moved, they should be left, as they contain parasites.

Several applications of poisons have been used, the best results being obtained from the use of pyrethrum as a powder blown on to the plants by a hand bellows, during the hottest part of the day, in the proportion of one part to four or five of flour.

As the eggs are laid at different times, any application, to be thoroughly tested, must be repeated several times.

THE APPLE TREE TENT CATERPILLAR.

_Clisiocampa Americana_ (Harr.)

Large, white, silken web-like tents, Fig. 15, are noticed by the roadsides, in the early summer, on wild cherry trees, and also on fruit trees in orchards, containing numerous caterpillars of a blackish color, with fine gray hairs scattered over the body.

This well known pest has been very abundant throughout the State for several years past, and the trees in many neglected orchards have been greatly injured by it, some being entirely stripped of their leaves. The trees in these orchards and the neglected ones by the roadsides form excellent breeding places for this insect, and such as are of little of no value should be destroyed. If this were well done, and all fruit growers in any given region were to destroy all the tents on their trees, even for a single season, the work of holding them in check or destroying them in the following year would be comparatively light.

The moths, Fig. 16, appear in great numbers in July, their wings measuring, when expanded, from one and a quarter to one and a half inches or more. They are of a reddish brown color, the fore wings being tinged with gray on the base and middle, and crossed by two oblique whitish stripes.

The females lay their eggs, about three hundred in number, in a belt, Fig. 15, c, around the twigs of apple, cherry, and a few other trees, the belt being covered by a thick coating of glutinous matter, which probably serves as a protection against the cold weather during winter.

The following spring, when the buds begin to swell, the egg hatch and the young caterpillar seek some fork of a branch, where they rest side by side. They are about one-tenth of an inch long, of a blackish color, with numerous fine gray hairs on the body. They feed on the young and tender leaves, eating on an average two apiece each day. Therefore the young of one pair of moths would consume from ten to twelve thousand leaves; and it is not uncommon to see from six to eight nests or tents on a single tree, from which no less than seventy-five thousand leaves would be destroyed--a drain no tree can long endure.

As the caterpillars grow, a new and much larger skin is formed underneath the old one, which splits along the back and is cast off. When fully grown, Fig. 15, a and b, which is in about thirty-five to forty days after emerging from the eggs, they are about two inches long, with a black head and body, with numerous yellowish hairs on the surface, with a white stripe along the middle of the back, and minute whitish or yellowish streaks, which are broken and irregular along the sides; and there is also a row of transverse, small, pale blue spots along each side of the back.

As they move about they form a continuous thread of silk from a fleshy tube on the lower side of the mouth, which is connected with the silk-producing glands in the interior of the body, and by means of this thread they appear to find their way back from the feeding grounds. It is also by the combined efforts of all the young from one belt of eggs that the tents are formed.

These caterpillars do not feed during damp, cold weather, but take two meals a day when it is pleasant.

After reaching their full growth, they leave their tents and scatter in all directions, seeking for some protected place where each one spins its spindle-shaped cocoon of whitish silk intermingled with sulphur colored powder, Fig. 15, d. They remain in these cocoons, where they have changed to pupæ, from twenty to twenty-five days, after which the moths emerge, pair, and the females lay their eggs for another brood.

Several remedies have been suggested, a few of which are given below. Search the trees carefully, when they are bare, for clusters of eggs; and, when found, cut off the twigs to which they are attached, and burn them.

As soon as any tents are observed in the orchard they should be destroyed, which may be readily and effectually done by climbing the trees, and with the hand protected by a mitten or glove, seize the tent and crush it with its entire contents; also swab them down with strong soapsuds or other substances; or tear them down with a rounded bottle brush.

Burning with a torch not only destroys the caterpillars but injures the trees.

It should be observed, however, since the caterpillars, are quite regular in taking their meals, in the middle of the forenoon and afternoon, that they should be destroyed only in the morning or evening, when all are in the tent.

Another remedy is to shower the trees with Paris green in water, in the proportion of one pound to one hundred and fifty gallons of water.

THE FOREST TENT CATERPILLAR.

_Clisiocampa disstria_ (Hübner.)

This species, commonly known as the forest tent caterpillar, closely resembles the apple tree tent caterpillar, but does not construct a visible tent. It feeds on various species of forest trees, such as oak, ash, walnut, hickory, etc., besides being very injurious to apple and other fruit trees. The moth, Fig. 17, b, expands an inch and a half or more. The general color is brownish yellow, and on the fore wings are two oblique brown lines, the space between them being darker than the rest of the wing. The eggs, Fig. 17, c and d, which are about one twenty fifth of an inch long and one fortieth wide, are arranged, three or four hundred in a cluster, around the twigs of the trees, Fig. 17, a. These clusters are uniform in diameter and cut off squarely at the ends. The eggs are white, and are firmly fastened to the twigs and to each other, by a brown substance, like varnish, which dries, leaving the eggs with a brownish covering.

The eggs hatch about the time the buds burst, or before, and the young caterpillars go for some time without food, but they are hardy and have been known to live three weeks with nothing to eat, although the weather was very cold.

As soon as hatched they spin a silken thread wherever they go, and when older wander about in search for food. The caterpillars are about one and a half inches long when fully grown, Fig. 18. The general color is pale blue, tinged with greenish low down on the sides, and everywhere sprinkled with black dots or points, while along the middle of the back is a row of white spots each side of which is an orange yellow stripe, and a pale, cream yellow stripe below that. These stripes and spots are margined with black. Each segment has two elevated black points on the back, from each of which arise four or more coarse black hairs. The back is clothed with whitish hairs, the head is dark bluish freckled with black dots, and clothed with black and fox-colored hairs, and the legs are black, clothed with whitish hairs.

At this stage the caterpillars may be seen wandering about on fences, trees, and along the roads in search of a suitable place to spin their cocoons, which are creamy white, and look very much like those of the common tent caterpillar, except that they are more loosely constructed.

Within the cocoons, in two or three days they transform to pupæ of a reddish brown color, densely clothed with short pale yellowish hairs. The moths appear in two or three weeks, soon lay their eggs and then die. The insects are not abundant many years in succession, as their enemies, the parasites, increase and check them.

Many methods have been suggested for their destruction, but the most available and economical are to remove the clusters of eggs whenever found, and burn them, and to shower the trees with Paris green in the proportion of one pound to one hundred and fifty gallons of water.

THE STALK BORER.

_Gortyna nitela_ (Gruen.)

The perfect moth, Fig. 19, 1, expands from one to one and a half inches. The fore wings are a mouse gray color, tinged with lilac and sprinkled with fine yellow dots, and distinguished mainly by a white band extending across the outer part. The moths hibernate in the perfect state, and in April or May deposit their eggs singly on the outside of the plant upon which the young are to feed. As soon as the eggs hatch, which is in about a month, the young larvæ, or caterpillars, gnaw their way from the outside into the pith.

The plant does not show any sign of decay until the caterpillar is fully grown, when it dies. The caterpillar, Fig. 19, 2, is about one and one-fourth inches long, of a reddish brown color, with whitish stripes along the body. The stripes on the sides are not continuous, and the shading of the body varies, being darker on the anterior than on the posterior portion. When fully grown, Fig. 20, the color is lighter and the stripes are broader. At this stage of life it burrows into the ground just beneath the surface, and changes into the pupa state. The pupa is three-fourths of an inch long, and of a mahogany brown color. The perfect moth appears about the first of September, and there is only one brood in a season.

The caterpillars feed in the stalks of corn, tomatoes, potatoes, dahlias, asters, and also in young currant bushes, besides feeding on many species of weeds. By a close inspection of the plants about the beginning of July, the spot where the borer entered, which is generally quite a distance from the ground, may be detected, and the caterpillar cut out without injury to the plant. This plan is impracticable for an extensive crop, but by destroying the borers found in the vines that wilt suddenly, one can lessen the number another year.

THE PYRAMIDAL GRAPEVINE CATERPILLAR.

_Pyrophila pyramidoides_ (Guen.)

This caterpillar, Fig. 21, is generally found on grapevines early in June, but also feeds on apple, plum, raspberry, maple, poplar, etc. It is about an inch and a half in length, with the body tapering toward the head; of a whitish green color, darker on the sides; with a longitudinal white stripe on the back, broader on the last segments. Low down on each side is a bright yellow stripe, between this and the one on the back is another less distinct, and the under surface of the body is pale green.

The caterpillar is fully grown about the middle or last of June, when it descends to the ground, draws together some of the fallen leaves, and makes a cocoon, in which it soon changes to a mahogany brown pupa.

In the latter part of July the perfect moth, Fig. 22, emerges, measuring, when its wings are expanded, about one and three-fourths inches; the fore wings are dark brown shaded with lighter, with dots and wavy lines of dull white. The hind wings are reddish, or of a bright copper color, shading to brown on the outer angle of the front edge of the wing, and paler toward the hinder and inner angle.

The under surface of the wings is lighter than the upper, and the body is dark brown, with its posterior portion banded with lines of a paler hue.

This pest may be destroyed by hand picking, or by jarring the trees or vines on which they are feeding, when they will fall to the ground and may be crushed or burned.

THE GRAPE BERRY MOTH.

_Eudemis botrana_ (S.V.)

The moths emerge and fly early in June, and are quite small, measuring, when the wings are expanded, only two-fifths of an inch, Fig. 23, a, enlarged. The fore wings are purplish or slate brown from the base to the middle, the outer half being irregularly marked with dark and light brown.

These insects are two-brooded and the first brood feeds not only on the leaves of the grape, but on tulip, sassafras, vernonia and raspberry. The caterpillars of the second brood emerge when the grapes are nearly grown, and bore in them a winding channel to the pulp, continuing to eat the interior of the berry till the pulp is all consumed, Fig. 23, d, when, if not full grown, they draw one or two other berries close to the first and eat the inside of those.

The mature caterpillar, Fig. 23, b, measures about half an inch in length, is dull greenish, with head and thoracic shield somewhat darker; the internal organs give the body a reddish tinge. It then leaves the grape and forms its cocoon by cutting out a piece of a leaf, leaving it hinged on one side; then rolling the cut end over, fastens it to the leaf, thus making for itself a cocoon in which to pupate. The pupa is dark reddish brown.

The second generation passes the winter in the pupa state, attached to leaves which fall to the ground; therefore, if all the dead and dried leaves be gathered in the fall and burned, also all the decayed fruit, a great many of these insects would be destroyed. As the caterpillars feed inside of the berry, no spraying of the vines with poisons would reach them. The caterpillar makes a discolored spot where it enters the berry, Fig. 23, c. Therefore the infested fruit may be easily detected and destroyed.

There is a small parasite that attacks this insect and helps to keep it in check. The insect has been known in Europe over a hundred years. It is not certain when it was introduced into America, but it is now found from Canada to the Gulf of Mexico, and from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean.

THE CODLING MOTH.

_Carpocapsa pomonella_ (Linn.)

This well known insect has a world-wide reputation, and is now found wherever apples are raised.

The moths are on the wing about the time the young apples are beginning to set, and the female lays a single egg in the blossom end of each apple. The fore wings of the moths when expanded, Fig. 24, g (f, with the wings closed), measure about half an inch across, and are marked with alternate wavy, transverse streaks of ashy gray and brown, and have on the inner hind angle a large tawny brown, horseshoe shaped spot, streaked with light bronze or copper color. The hind wings and abdomen are light brown with a luster of satin.

Each female lays about fifty eggs, which are minute, flattened, scale-like bodies of a yellowish color. In about a week the eggs hatch and the tiny caterpillar begins to eat through the apple to the core, Fig. 24, a, pushing its castings out through the hole where it entered, Fig. 24, b. Oftentimes these are in sight on the outside in a dark colored mass, thus making wormy apples plainly seen at quite a distance.

The caterpillar is about two-fifths of an inch in length, of a glossy, pale yellowish white color, with a light brown head. The skin is transparent and the internal organs give to it a reddish tinge.

When mature the caterpillars, Fig. 24, e, top of head and second segment, h, emerge from the apples and seek some sheltered place, such as crevices of bark, or corners of the boxes or barrels in which the fruit is stored, where they spin a tough whitish cocoon, Fig. 24, i, in which they remain unchanged all winter, and transform to pupæ, Fig. 24, d, the next spring, the perfect moths emerging in time to lay their eggs in the new crop of apples.

One good remedy is to gather all the fallen apples, and feed them to hogs; another is to let swine and sheep run in the orchard, and eat the infested fruit.

It has been recommended to place bands of cloth or hay around the trunks of the trees for the caterpillars to spin their cocoons beneath, and to remove them at the proper time, and put them in scalding water to destroy the worms.

By far the most successful method as yet adopted is to shower the apple trees with Paris green in water, one pound to one hundred and fifty gallons of water, when the apples are about the size of peas, and again in about a week.

THE CABBAGE LEAF MINER.

_Plutella cruciferarum_ (Zell.)

The cabbage leaf miner is not a native of this country, but was imported from Europe.

The perfect moth, Fig. 25, f, with the wings expanded (h, with the wings closed, g, a dark variety), measures three-quarters of an inch. The fore wings are ashy gray, and on the hinder margin is a white or yellowish white stripe having three points extending into the gray, thus forming, when the wings are closed, three diamond-shaped white spots. Generally there is a dark brown stripe between the white and the gray. There are also black dots scattered about on the anterior part of these wings.

The hind wings are leaden brown, and the under side of all the wings is leaden brown, glossy, and without any dots.

The antennæ are whitish with dark rings, and the abdomen white. There are two broods of this insect in this region, the moths of the first appearing in May, and those of the second in August. They hibernate in the pupa stage.

The caterpillars, Fig. 25, a (b, the top and c, the side of a segment), appear in June or July and September; they are small and cylindrical, tapering at both ends, pale green, and about one-fourth of an inch long. The head has a yellowish tinge, and there are several dark stiff hairs scattered over the body.

When ready to transform, this caterpillar spins a delicate gauze-like cocoon, Fig. 25, e, made of white, silken threads, on the under side of a cabbage leaf. The pupa, Fig. 25, d, and i, the end of a pupa, is commonly white, sometimes shaded with reddish brown, and can be distinctly seen through the silken case.

The first brood is more injurious than the second, as it feeds on the young cabbage leaves before the head is formed, and this must surely stunt the growth and make weak, sickly plants; while the second brood feeds only on the outside leaves. The caterpillars are very active, wriggling violently when disturbed, and falling by a white silken thread.

Hot dry weather is favorable to them and enables them to multiply rapidly. Advantage has been taken of this fact, and spraying the plants thoroughly with water is strongly recommended. Prof. Riley states that the insects are very readily destroyed by pyrethrum. There are two species of spiders and a species of ichneumon fly that destroy them.

THE GARTERED PLUME MOTH.

_Oxyptilus periscelidactylus_ (Fitch.)

The caterpillars of this species draw together the young grape leaves, Fig. 26, a, in the spring, with fine silken threads, and feed on the inside, thus doing much damage in proportion to their size. These caterpillars, Fig. 26, a, and e, a segment greatly enlarged, are full grown in about two weeks, when they are about one-fourth of an inch long, pale green with whitish hairs arising from a transverse row of warts on each segment.

Early in June they transform to pupæ, Fig. 26, b, which are pale green at first and change to dark brown. The surface is rough and the head is cut off obliquely, while on the upper side near the middle are two sharp pointed horns, Fig. 26, c. They remain in this stage from a week to ten days, when the moths emerge.

The moths, Fig. 26, d, belong to the family commonly known as plume moths or feather wings (Pterophoridæ), from having their wings divided into feather-like lobes. When the wings are expanded they measure about seven-tenths of an inch across. They are yellowish brown with a metallic luster, and have several dull whitish streaks and spots. The fore wings are split down the middle about half way to their base, the posterior half having a notch in the outer margin. The body is somewhat darker than the wings.

It is not known positively in what stage the winter is passed, but it is supposed to be the perfect, or imago stage. The unnatural grouping and spinning of the leaves together leads to their detection, and they can be easily destroyed by hand picking and then crushing or burning them.

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THE BREEDS OF DOGS.

The dog exhibitions that have annually taken place for the last eight years at Paris and in the principal cities of France have shown how numerous and varied the breeds of dogs now are. It is estimated that there are at present, in Europe, about a hundred very distinct and very fine breeds (that is to say, such as reproduce their kind with constant characters), without counting a host of sub-breeds or varieties that a number of breeders are trying to fix.