DEPARTMENT REPORTS. 107 



THE GIPSY MOTH LARVAE. 



The caterpillars are of a dark gray, or brown color, and the backs 

 are marked with a double row of white spots. There are live pairs of 

 blue spots towards the front end and six pairs of red spots at the rear 

 end of the insect. There are also numerous tufts of rather long, brown 

 hairs. They sometimes reach a length of nearly three inches. The in- 

 sects reach their full size near the middle of July and transform to 

 pup?e, emerging as moths about the middle of August. 



This insect can also be readily controlled by thorough spraying of 

 the infested trees, but other measures are also adopted especially in vil- 

 lages and cities. The work begins during the winter with the destruc- 

 tion of the eggs by soaking them with creosote which has been colored 

 with lamp black. When an attempt is made to collect the eggs, the mass 

 is so brittle that they become scattered. If there is underbrush, it is 

 cut and burned. 



As the egg masses are sometimes carefully concealed, it seldom 

 happens that all are destroyed and measures must be taken to combat 

 the' larvae when they appear. In case the trees have been cleaned of 

 egg masses, a band of liquid *'taugle foot" three or four inches wide 

 is painted around the trunk. This will remain soft for several days but 

 if it hardens with cold, or from the action of rains, it should be renewed 

 or stirred up using a fine steel comb. The bands should be occasionally 

 examined as if the larvae are very numerous they may crawl upon the 

 ''tangle-foot" band and will soon manage to bridge it over. Besides 

 destroying the insects upon the bands, all that are found upon the 

 trunks of the trees above or below the bands should be killed. 



Another method of trapping the insects, which is often used in con- 

 nection with the tangle-foot band, is to place a strip of burlap nine 

 inches wide around the trunks above the tangle-foot. This is tied close 

 to the bark at the center and the upper portion is then bent over. The 

 insects when nearly grown have the habit of crawling down the trunks 

 during the middle of the day, seeking a place to conceal themselves, 

 and can be fovind in large numbers between the flaps of the burlap 

 where they can be readily destroyed. 



While in many cases all of the above methods are used and the trees 

 are later on sprayed with arsenate of lead, the destruction of the eggs 

 combined with one or two thorough sprayings should suffice, and especi- 

 ally as two or three sprayings of fruit trees are necessary against other 

 insects, it would seem that if taken when the insects first appear, it 

 would be possible to control them by that means alone. 



The State of Massachusetts has spent several million dollars fight- 

 ing these insects and, although their ravages have been checked, the in- 

 sects are continually being found in new territory, so that if the war- 

 fare is kept up the expense is not likely to lessen for some yeare, at 

 least. 



An endeavor is being made, in cooperation with the U. S. Division of 

 Entomology to import parasites from Germany, and it is hoped that a 

 marked measure of success will be achieved but as yet the work is in an 

 experimental stage. 



