10 



(chiefly the latter half) and through August these females may be 

 found busily engaged in laying their eggs. 



Danger Signs. The bristly, cast-off molt skins of the gypsy 

 moth caterpillars, often with the head cases attached, may fre- 

 quently be found in the situations chosen for the eggs and pupse. 

 They are often massed in bunches, and are very commonly asso- 

 ciated with empty gypsy moth pupa cases or hatched or unhatched 

 gypsy moth egg clusters. 



Gypsy moth molt skins and empty pupa cases are resistant to 

 weather and decay, and may be found at any season of the year. 

 The presence in any locality of such molt skin, empty pupa case 

 or hatched egg cluster of the gypsy moth indicates the probable 

 presence near by of the living moth in some form, and therefore 

 is a sign of danger not to be disregarded. The hatched-out egg 

 masses of a previous year often remain intact in sheltered places, 

 and thus give a clue to the presence of the insect. 



THE BROWJir-TAiL MOTH. 



This insect, like the gypsy moth, a common European pest of 

 fruit and shade trees, has been an object of interest to gardeners 

 from the earliest times. Throughout Europe it is known as the 

 "common caterpillar," and accounts of its habits and periodical 

 ravages are to be found in nearly all European works on entomology 

 and horticulture. It found its way accidentally to Somerville, 

 Mass., in the early nineties, probably in a shipment of roses from 

 Holland, multiplied, spread, and is now generally disseminated 

 over eastern New England. 



Damage ly the Brown-tail Moth. 



While at first a pest of the pear and other fruit trees, the brown- 

 tail moth has now adapted itself to feeding on various species of 

 forest trees, notably the oaks. In the spring, as soon as the buds 

 unfold, the young caterpillars begin to feed, and where numerous 

 completely strip even large trees. When the food supply gives 

 out, they swarm forth along fences, walks, etc., in search of 

 foliage. 



The damage by the caterpillars to the fruit trees is only a part 

 of the harm wrought by them. Whenever these insects come in 

 contact with human flesh, they produce a most severe and painful 

 nettling. This is due apparently not to any poisonous material 

 in the hairs, but rather to the finely barbed and brittle hairs them- 

 selves. So severe is this affection that in many cases people have 



