186 STATE BOARD OF AGRICULTURE 



most tjonblesonio. Tlu'tso favoral)le seasons. howevcM', do nut often occur, j)aiticulai-ly 

 in the Eastern United States, and here climatic influences or other natural condi- 

 tions roach the insects during the Avinter, so that in the sprinj,' followin;,' only a 

 normal lunnhcr survive. Cultivalin^' the land in croi)S which admit of fall plow- 

 injr is host adapted to avoid injury, and a frequent rotation will prevent them from 

 becoming numerous enough to be destructive at any time." 



Tin: WHITK-MARKICD TUSSOCK MOTH. 

 {Xotolophus leucostUjma, S. & A.) 



Familiar objects to many of us are the larvae of caterpillars of tiiis insect, which 

 are about one and one-half iiiches long, yellow and black striped longitudinally. The 

 head, prolhoracic shield and two spots on the backs of the sixth and seventh .segments 

 are bright sealing-wax red. From each side of the first segment behind the head 

 projects a tuft of long black hairs, forming a V-shaped fork half an inch long, which 

 points and opens forward. From the back of the eighth segment projects back- 

 ward a single similar tuft of long hairs, and on the backs of each of the first four 

 abdominal segments is a brush-like tuft of cream-colored short hairs. Beside these 

 there are numerous yellow liairs on the sides of the body. These brightly colored 

 caterpillars are not at all particular in regard to their food, almost any shade or 

 fruit tree answering the purpose. They feed alike upon apple, pear, plum, cherry, 

 maple, elm, poplar and a large number of other trees. 



\\'hen full grown the larva spins a cocoon, usually upon the tree itself, partly 

 protected by some roughness in the bark, or else nearby on adjacent objects, usually 

 more or less exposed. The adults of this insect are notable because the sexes are 

 very dillerent. The males are very pretty moths or "millers," which are provided with 

 v/ings and which fly with ease. The females, on the other hand, have no wings, 

 but are quite large and swollen creatures, capable only of laying eggs. The female 

 comes forth from the cocoon, awaits the coming of the male, and then lays her eggs 

 upon the empty cocoon, in a frothy mass that dries down, forming a friable, spongy 

 covering, pure white in color unless discolored by the elements. The winter is 

 passed in this stage, and early in the spring the eggs hatch, each giving forth a 

 young caterpillar. 



There are two broods and possibly more South, but it is not possible now to say 

 whether there are one or two broods in upper Michigan. On August 29, an adult 

 female on a freshly laid mass of eggs was found at Au Train Falls. 



The damage done to the shade trees in a city or park is sometimes very serious. 

 Detroit has been for some time the scene of an attack : Like the canker-worm, when 

 the insect appears it usually comes to stay, and vigorous measures are required to 

 overcome it. 



EEJIEDIES. 



The amount of labor and money that it will be found expedient to use in a given 

 case will depend largely upon the circumstances. In cities it will be found possible 

 to do much more than in hamlets or villages, while in isolated farms still less 

 will be thought profitable, except in cases Avherc orchards are infested. The eggs 

 being laid in masses, sometimes 500 of them in a single bunch, and these masses being 

 conspicuous and not well hidden, it will be found profitable to collect all egg-masses 

 on the old cocoons during the winter season, that is, late in the fall and early in 

 spring, or whenever they are accessible. This has been done cheaply by school 

 children in cities for a small remuneration. The caterpillars can be killed by a 

 thorough spray of paris green, but tall shade trees are very difficult to treat in this 

 way. The usual way of overcoming this difficulty is to build a tall stage on a wagon 

 and to spray from this stage, using long bamboo rods with a nozzle at one end and 

 connected at the other end with the hose. Another method which is preventive is to 

 band such trees as are not infested, with a strip of cotton batting. The eggs being 

 laid on the old cocoon, fresh trees will be infested by caterpillars crawling to them, 

 and in no other way. A band of loose cotton batting, renewed from time to time as it 

 loses its fluffiness from rain, will entangle the larv£E as they try to climb into the tree. 



