New York Agricultural Experiment Station. 381 



in a thin cocoon. The moths emerge in late July and August. The 

 males, which are smaller and dark brown, fly about and mate with 

 the females, which are nearly white with dark markings and are 

 heavy bodied and scarcely able to fly. 



Remedies. — Paint egg clusters with creosote in fall, winter or 

 spring. Spray trees with arsenate of lead (5 lbs. per barrel) just as 

 the eggs are hatching in the spring. 



BROWN-TAIL MOTH. 



Euproctis cJirysorrhoea Linn. 



The brown-tail moth was introduced into the United States in 

 1890 on nursery stock imported from Europe, where it is a common 

 native pest. It first became established in eastern Massachusetts 

 and has since spread to New Hampshire, Maine, New Brunswick, 

 Connecticut, and Rhode Island. The moths (Plate XXVIII, fig. 1) 

 fly long distances and spread mostly with the prevailing winds. It 

 has not become established in New York so far as is known, but thou- 

 sands of nests have been found by nursery inspectors on seedlings 

 imported from France. The caterpillars of this species prefer the 

 fruit trees, but they also feed on almost all the common forest trees 

 except the evergreens. 



Life history. — -The moths emerge in midsummer. The eggs are laid 

 in late summer on the terminal leaves. The caterpillars are gre- 

 garious and pull the leaves together with a web, forming tough silken 

 nests in which they pass the winter (Plate XXVIII, fig. 2). When 

 they emerge in the spring they feed on the opening buds and leaves 

 and become full grown in June. The mature caterpillars are cov- 

 ered with fine barbed hairs which cause a distressing irritation of 

 the skin upon human beings, known as the " brown-tail rash ". The 

 pupse are found among the leaves enveloped in white-silk cocoons. 

 Both sexes of the moths are white on all parts except the abdomen, 

 which is covered with brown hairs. 



Remedies. — The measures employed to combat the insect are as 

 follows: Cut off nests from trees from October to April and burn 

 them. Spray trees during early May and in August, when the eggs 

 hatch, with arsenate of lead. 



