. Circular. Insects. States (levernmt Circular No. 97 Issued February G, 1908. United States Department of Agriculture, BUREAU OF ENTOMOLOGY, L. O. HOWARD, Entomologist and Chief of Bureau. THE BAG WORM. {Thyridopteryx ephemerseformis Haw.). By L. O. Howard and F. H. Chittenden. GENERAL APPEARANCE AND NATURE OF ATTACK. Shade trees, shrubs, and hedges, and in particular evergreens, are much subject to injury by a medium-sized caterpillar which has a curious habit of crawling about on the infested trees in a bag-like case, whence its common name of bagworm or basket worm. In the shelter of these
. Circular. Insects. States (levernmt Circular No. 97 Issued February G, 1908. United States Department of Agriculture, BUREAU OF ENTOMOLOGY, L. O. HOWARD, Entomologist and Chief of Bureau. THE BAG WORM. {Thyridopteryx ephemerseformis Haw.). By L. O. Howard and F. H. Chittenden. GENERAL APPEARANCE AND NATURE OF ATTACK. Shade trees, shrubs, and hedges, and in particular evergreens, are much subject to injury by a medium-sized caterpillar which has a curious habit of crawling about on the infested trees in a bag-like case, whence its common name of bagworm or basket worm. In the shelter of these cases the insects undergo all their transformations, after which the bags remain attached to the plants for some time and are conspic- uous objects on leafless trees and shrubs in late autumn and in winter. Like the tussock moth" and the fall webworm6 this species is preeminently a pest on the streets and in parks and private grounds of cities and towns and is even more subject to fluctuation in num- bers. It is, however, more limited in distribution and not found as a rule north of southern New York and the central portions of Pennsylvania and Ohio. South of these points it is in certain years very trou- blesome and the subject of much complaint. Such a year was 1907, when the bagworm attracted greater attention than any other tree defoliator. Numerous complaints were received of injuries in the region mentioned, and especially from the States of New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois. The natural enemies of this insect (see p. 6) were comparatively scarce, and there is a strong possibility of a recur- rence of injuries in the }Tears to come. The general appearance of the bagworm is shown in figure 1, which illustrates the caterpillar when nearly full grown, in its characteristic bag. When removed from its bag it looks as shown in figure 2, a, which represents the larva pt maturity. At this period in its develop-. Fig. 1.
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