THE CATERPILLAR AND THE MOTH
hanging motionless from leaves, petioles, and twigs, benumbed with exposure and incapable of action—more miserable-looking insects could not be imagined. No instinct of protection, apparently, had prevailed over their appetites; till at last, overcome by wet and cold, they were saved only by some impulse that led them to grasp the support so firmly with the abdominal feet that they hung there mechanically when senses and power of movement were gone. Some clung by the hindmost pair of feet only, others grasped the support with all the abdominal feet. One colony and most of another were safely housed in their tents. These had evidently retreated before helplessness overtook them.
By eight o'clock in the morning many of the suspended caterpillars were sufficiently revived to resume activity. Some fed a little, others crawled feebly toward the tents. By 9:45 most were on their way home, and at 10:45 all were under shelter.
Gentle rains fell during most of the day, but the temperature gradually rose to a maximum of 65°. Only a few caterpillars from the youngest colony came out to feed at noon. In the evening there was a hard, drenching rain, after which several caterpillars from two of the tents appeared for dinner. The next morning, the 19th, the temperature dropped to 49°, light rains continued, and not a caterpillar from any colony ventured out for breakfast. It looked as if they had learned their lesson; but it is more probable they were simply too cold and stiff to leave the tents. In the afternoon the sky cleared, the temperature rose, and the colonies resumed their normal life.
The tent caterpillars; mode of feeding is to devour the leaves clear down to the midribs (Figs. 148, 149), and in this fashion they denude whole branches of the trees they inhabit. Since the caterpillars have big appetites, it sometimes 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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