The Pine-Shoot Moth — Greatly Enlarged 



THE PINE-SHOOT MOTH 



THE importation of pine trees 

 from Europe after July 1, 1915, 

 has been forbidden by the 

 Department of Agriculture 

 under a quarantine order. This action 

 was taken to protect American pine 

 trees from the pine-shoot moth which 

 has done so much injury in Europe 

 and which has been found in a few 

 places in this country. 



This pine-shoot moth is a small 

 orange-red moth, the larvae of which 

 eats out the new buds and kills or 

 deforms the young twigs of pine trees, 

 so as seriously and permanently to 

 lower their timber value. It has within 

 very recent years been accidently intro- 

 duced into America on imported Euro- 

 pean pine seedlings and has unfortu- 

 nately become established in several 

 widely separated localities in the eastern 

 and middle western States. 



Early last summer, a 

 correspondent of the 

 Bureau of Entomology 

 complained of a serious 

 insect injury to European 

 pines under his surveil- 

 lance on Long Island, and 

 sent examples of the in- 

 jury and of the larvae 



causing it ; the latter could not be idjnti- 

 fied as those of any of our known American 

 pine pests, and August Busck, Entomo- 

 logical Assistant in Forest Insect Inves- 

 tigation of the Bureau of Entomology, 

 was authorized to visit the affected 

 localities to ascertain the extent of the 

 injury and obtain sufficient live material 

 for study and rearing. From this 

 material a large number of moths 

 emerged and these were at once recog- 

 nized as the famous European pine- 

 shoot moth. 



Subsequent surveys, says Mr. Busck 

 in his report, established the fact that 

 the species has been repeatedly intro- 

 duced on European nursery stock, and 

 that it has become established in 

 nurseries and parks in several localities 

 scattered over nine States. 



In view of the experience with other 

 introduced European insects, and con- 



Larva of the Pine-Shoot Moth — Enlarged 



637 



