Page:Insects - Their Ways and Means of Living.djvu/335

 CATERPILLAR AND THE MOTH

hanging nnotionless fronn leaves, petioles, and twigs, be- nunnbed with exposure and incapable of action--nnore nniserable-looking insects could hOt be innagined. No in- stinct of protection, apparently, had prevailed over their appetites; till at last, overconne by wet and cold, they were saved only by sonne innpulse that led them to grasp the support so firnnly with the abdonninal feet that they hung there nnechanically when senses and power of nnove- nnent were gone. Sonne clung by the hindnnost pair of feet only, others grasped the support with all the abdonninal feet. One colony and nnost of another were safely housed in their tents. These had evidently retreated before helplessness overtook thenn. By eight o-'clock in the nnorning nnany of the suspended caterpillars were sufficiently revived to resunne activity. Sonne fed a little, others crawled feebly toward the tents. By 9:45 nnost were on their way home, and at IO:4_ç all were under shelter. Gentle rains fell during nnost of the day, but the tenn- perature gradually rose to a nnaxinnunn of 65 °. Only a few caterpillars fronn the youngest co]ony carne out to feed at noon. In the evening there was a aard, drenching rain, after which several caterpillars fronn two of the tents ap- peared for dinner. The next nnorning, the 9th, the tenn- perature dropped to 49 °, light rains continued, and nota caterpillar from any colony ventured out for breakfast. It looked as if they tiad learned their lesson; but it is more probable they were sinnply too cold and stiff to leave the tents. In the afternoon the sky cleared, the tennperature rose, and the colonies resumed their normal life. The tent caterpillars' mode of feeding is to devour the leaves clear down to the nnidribs (Figs. 48, I49), and in this fashion they denude whole branches of the trees they inhabit. Since the caterpillars have big appetites, it some- times happens that a large colony in a small tree or several colonies in the same tree may strip the tree bare before they reach maturity. The writer never saw a colony

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INSECTS