106 STATE BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



pounds in 50 gallons of water. This should not only be sprayed over the 

 trees upon which the lai'vae are found, but upon others in the vicinity 

 that are likely to be infested. 



THE DANGER FROM THIS INSECT. 



The fruit grower who sprays his trees thoroughly three or four times 

 during the season has nothing to fear from this insect, as it will never 

 be able to get a start, and it will be little more injurious than the 

 common tent-caterpillar. But the farmer and others who do not spray 

 will find it a serious pest as it will soon kill pear and apple trees and 

 in time nvAy spread to the forests where it will be difificult, if not im- 

 possible, to control it. Whenever it appears, these winter nests should 

 be destroyed before growth starts and the trees sprayed with arsenate 

 of lead just before they bloom and again as soon as the fruit has set. 



THE GIPSY MOTH. 



Although this insect has not been found in Michigan, its presence may 

 be looked for at any time, and, when it once becomes established in a 

 locality, it is more to be feared than the brown-tail moth, as it attacks 

 all kinds of trees and cultivated plants. 



The moths are very heavy and are not able to fly, hence it depends 

 for its distribution upon the larvae dropping upon carriages, auto 

 mobiles and railroad trains. There is also a possibility of the eggs be- 

 ing introduced upon nursery stock, or in barrels and other packages 

 in which household goods may be shipped from infested sections. 



This insect was introduced iniu the vicinity of Boston some 25 years 

 ago and has gradually spread until it is now quite generally found 

 everywhere within a radius of tv-city miles of Boston. 



THE PERFECT INSECT. 



The perfect insect is a moth whose wings have a sprea-d of a little 

 more than two inches. They are of a dingy-white color, and marked and 

 streaked with black. It also differs from the gipsy moth by lacking 

 the brown hairs at the tip of the abdomen. As it cannot fly, it seldom 

 gets far away from the pupa -case and in fact generally lays its eggs 

 directly upon it, during the month of August. 



The egg masses are often nearly two inches long and an inch or more 

 in diameter. They are found on the trunks and branches of trees, or on 

 fences, buildings, or any spot where the larvae happen to be when they 

 are ready to make their cocoons. 



Each egg mass contains four or five hundred round eggs about the 

 size of the head of a small pin, which are salmon-colored at first but 

 soon turn dark. The eggs are fastened together by a sort of frothy 

 glue and the mass is covered with tawny hairs rubbed from the abdo- 

 men of the female moth. 



The insect passes the winter in the egg state and never as a cater- 

 pillar, as does the brown-tail moth. 



