352 AGRICUIvTURE OF MAINE. 



Fig. i6. Forest Tent Caterpillar. (From Me. Ag. Ex. Sta. Circular). 



lo. Brown-Tail, Moth. 

 (Bnproctis chrysorrhoca. ) 



The caterpillars of the brown-tail moth are capable of ruin- 

 ing orchard, shade and many woodland trees. They are also a 

 dreaded nuisance, because the caterpillar hairs break ofif, and 

 on coming in contact with the hinnan skin, cause extreme irri- 

 tation and often illness. 



So serious a pest should be known by every one in the State, 

 because although extermination of this insect may not be pos- 

 sible, much practical and effectual work can be done in holding 

 it in check and reducing its numbers so that damage to orchard 

 and shade trees may be very slight. 



The moths, expanding from one and one-fourth to one and 

 three-fourths inches, are white except for the abdomen, which 

 is tinged with brown and tipped with a tuft of brown hairs. 

 This tuft is small and dark in the male, but the large golden- 

 brown tuft in the female is conspicuous enough to be the most 

 striking characteristic of the moth, and has won for this insect 

 its descriptive name of "brown-tail." These moths are on the 

 wing in July, and unlike some closely related pests, the brown- 

 tail females as well as the males are strong flyers. They are 

 active at night, and as lights have an attraction for them, they 

 sometimes fly a long way toward a lighted district. 



The female usually selects a leaf near the tip of the branch 

 on which to deposit from one hundred and fifty to three hun- 

 dred &g^s. Some of the brown hairs from the abdominal tuft 

 adhere to the Qgg mass and give it the appearance of a brown 

 felt lump. 



By the middle of August most of the eggs are hatched and 

 the young caterpillars spin a slight web over the leaf near the 



