[Illustration: FIG. 15.]

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.

[Illustration: FIG. 16.]

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.