REPORT OF THE DIVISION OF ENTOMOLOGY AND BOTANY 45 



SESSIONAL PAPER No. 16 



found. Nurserymen and others, however, should watch as far as i>ossible this summer 

 all imported stock which has been planted out, and if any strange looking caterpillars 

 are noticed, send them at once to the Division of Entomology at Ottawa- It is im- 

 portant that this should be done, in case any stray caterpillars may have escaped. In 

 certain instances where broken nests had been found, the great danger of leaving 

 around any packing, of whatever kind, which had been in the case, was particularly 

 pointed out. If such packing were not destroyed before spring, it can very easily be 

 seen how some of these caterpillars might get out and establish themselves.' 



In view of the widespread interest in the Brown-tail Moth in Canada at the 

 present time, the following account of the insect has been compiled by Mr. Arthur 

 Gibson, Chief Assistant, mainly from the report of the late Dr. Fletcher for 1906 : — 



INTRODUCTION AND SPREAD IN AMERICA. 



The Brown-tail Moth was introduced into America about the year 1890, at 

 Somerville, Mass. It is said to have been brought in on nursery stock imported from 

 Holland or France. It was not until 1S97, however, that it attracted particular atten- 

 tion, from its ravages upon pear trees. In Europe this insect has long been known as 

 a pest of fruit and shade trees; it is spoken of there as the 'common caterpillar.' 

 Since its introduction into Massachusetts it has spread into every New England 

 State except Vermont. The following is reprinted from the report for 1906 of tiio 

 late Entomologist and Botanist, Dr. James Fletcher: — 



The Brown-tail Moth in Canada. 



* In 1902, Mr. William Mcintosh, of St. John, New Brunswick, took a single male 

 specimen of the Brown-tail Moth {Euproctis chrysorrhcea, L.) about 20 miles from St. 

 John, N.B. About the same time another specimen was taken by Mr. Gordon Leavitt, 

 at St. John; and in July of 1905, Mr. John Kussell took a third specimen at Digby, 

 Nova Scotia. Up to the present time these have been the only authentic records of 

 this much-to-be-dreaded insect having been taken in Canada. Recently, however, I 

 have received from Mr. C. Perry Foote, of Lakeville, Nova Scotia, one of the winter 

 nests of the Brown-tail Moth, filled with the liviiig caterpillars, thus proving that this 

 insect has established itself at one place at least in Canada. 



* It was to be expected that the moths might be found here at any time, having 

 been brought up direct from Massachusetts on one of the steamboats which ply regu- 

 larly between Boston and the Maritime Provinces ; but this would not necessarily 

 prove that the insect had established itself. The occurrence of the young caterpillars, 

 Ihowever, is a more serious matter, and shows that energetic measures are necessary 

 at once to suppress and possibly to wipe out this unwelcome visitor before it becomes 

 more widespread. The recognition of the winter nests is an easy matter, and this is 

 the time of year to attend to their destruction. The Brown-tail Moth passes the 

 winter as a very young caterpillar, and large numbers of these form colonies at the 

 tips of the branches of the trees upon which they have been feeding the previous sum- 

 mer. The eggs are laid during July, and, on hatching, the caterpilars feed for some 

 time on the upper surface of the leaves. As winter approaches, they crawl to the tip 

 of a branch and bind together a few leaves so as to make a tent. This is securely 

 closed up with silk, and the caterpillars remain dormant all through the winter and 

 until the buds burst the following spring. These winter nests are easily recognized, 

 from being almost invariably at the tips of the branches, and from being at this time 

 of the year the only nests which contain colonies of living caterpillars. These latter 

 are black, but covered with rusty hairs, and on the 10th and 11th segments towards 

 the end of the body there are two very conspicuous, reddish-yellow, cushion-like tuber- 

 cles, one on each segment, which the caterpillars can elevate or depress at pleasure. 



