WEBWORM (web, AS. web, OHG. weppi, wappi, dialectic Ger. 'Webb, Ger. Grwebc, web, from AS. wcfan, OHG. (rebut?, Ger. «Tben, to weave; connected with Gk. fkpos, hyphos, web, Skt. urnarabhi, wool-spinner, spider + worm). Any one of several lepidopterous lame which spin webs, and either live gregariously in large colonies or occupy single webs. The commonest of the webworms is the 'fall' webworm, the larva of Ilyphantria tcxtor. The adult is a rather small, pure white moth, sometimes spotted with "--• "'"`" ^' black. It lays its eggs in clusters of four to live hundred upon the leaves of many kinds of trees. The caterpillars on hatching live together, each colony spinning a web which grows with the growth of the larva., and which may eventually include all the leaves of a good-sized limb.
pon reaching full growth the larvae leave the web and crawl down the trunk to spin their cocoons. There are two generations each year, and the insect hibernates in the pupal condi tion. When numerous it is abundantly parasi• tized, many ichneumon flies and elmleis flies lay ing their eggs in the growing caterpillars. Burn ing, the webs at nightfall or in dark weather.
when the caterpillars are close together, is often practiced• a torch hieing used. Conlin)re TENT CATERPILLARS.
The sugar-beet webworm is the green and black striped larva of a pyralid moth (Lo.ro siege stieticalis). It feeds upon the leaves of the sugar beet, trans forming to a pupa in May after passing the winter underground in a long silken tube. The imported cabbage web worm is the larva of another pyralid moth (ldet/ 2/ / /I )/dU HS), which occurs through out the Gulf region in the United States, and which is also found in the Alediterrancan, Ethiopian. and Oriental regions. The moths lay their eggs in small batches on the leaves, upon the under sides of which the larvoe feed, concealing themselves with a silken web to which their excrement is attached. There are two generations each year. Cabbages and turnips are the favorite food, but radishes and beets are also attacked. An early trap crop of collards or radishes is recommended to be planted and sprayed with an arsenical poison.