Rural School Leaflet 105 i 



we consider that each egg ring will average at least 150 eggs, we see that 

 the number of eggs destroyed reaches the enormous figure of 542,593,650, 



This is good work. There has often been an element of competition 

 introduced in order to see who could collect the most in a school, or which 

 school could do best in a supervisory district or county. Small prizes 

 have sometimes been offered by teachers, superintendents, and others, 

 but even without such encouragement the boys and girls have been 

 interested to work hard because they could see the useful results of their 

 efforts. 



In the northern part of the State another tent caterpillar, which works 

 on forest rather than on fruit trees, has been abundant. It has similar 

 habits to those of the apple-tree tent caterpillar, but the egg rings have 

 flat instead of rounded ends. Reports have come to us of the very large 

 number of egg rings and nests of the forest tent caterpillar destroyed by 

 the boys and girls particularly in Clinton and Franklin Counties. The 

 figures given above do not include complete reports from the rural schools 

 in these counties. Special credit is due the teachers and boys and girls 

 for their efforts. 



There are some sections of the State that are comparatively free from 

 tent caterpillars. This is true whenever thorough spraying is practiced 

 and fence rows and roadsides are not allowed to grow up to wild cherry 

 trees. In these days all farms with a number of fruit trees on them 

 should have some kind of spraying outfit, and the trees should be sprayed 

 annually both for insects and diseases. Likewise well-kept farms have 

 clean fence rows and roadsides, thus preventing the breeding of weeds, 

 insects, and diseases, and their subsequent spread to cultivated crops. 

 These are conditions toward which we are working gradually, but mean- 

 time the tent caterpillars are not all gone. This winter again there are 

 large numbers of the egg rings to be found in many parts of the State, 

 and there is opportunity to continue the good work until the very time 

 the eggs hatch in the spring. 



We can now go a step farther and learn of an interesting thing in 

 connection with the apple-tree tent caterpillar. In spite of all the efforts 

 of man to check this and other insect pests, he would make slow head- 

 way were it not for the natural enemies that they have. There is an enemy 

 of the tent caterpillar, a small insect belonging to the same family as 

 do the bees and the wasps. Because it lives on another living insect, we 

 call it a parasite. The wasp-like insect lays its eggs in the tent caterpillar's 

 body, and when the caterpillar spins its cocoon, the egg of the parasite 

 hatches, and the young larva kills the tent caterpillar so that it never 

 transforms into a moth. Instead the parasite transforms, and the wasp- 

 like insect comes out and attacks more caterpillars. 



