1917 ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 75 



ful in Virginia as to strip the oak trees bare but is rather rare in Georgia." Tliis 

 makes it certain that there were outbreaks of the insect, in Virginia at least, 

 previous to 1797; and that it was not so abundant farther south. As early as 

 1791 there was an outbreak of an insect in Vermont which was probably the 

 Forest Tent Caterpillar, and may have been a {)art of the last outbreak noticed by 

 Mr. Abbot in A-'irginia. 



We have no further record of the insect until 1820, when it was noticed in 

 Massachusetts. In the * Entomological Correspondence of T. W. Harris,* we 

 find a description of the species and the following notes on its history, " The 

 moths appeared about the last of June, 1820. . . . One cast its skin June 13th 

 and came out an imago July 1st, 1821." " Found the larvae on the apple tree, 

 June 3rd, 1826." Harris again mentions it in his " Treatise on Insects," 1841, 

 and publishes an account of it in the " New England Farmer," 1844, which would 

 indicate the presence of the caterpillar in Massachusetts at that time. 



The earliest authentic record of an outbreak in New York is given by Fitch 

 in his Second ' Eeport of the Insects of New York,' pp. 198-199. He says, " his 

 neighbors state that this species gnaws the stems of young apples causing them 

 to fall as well as eating the leaves." This was probably a part of the same out- 

 break as that recorded from New Hampshire in 1854 by Eaton ('' Trans. N. H. 

 State Agr. Soc' 1854-1855, pp. 199-207). There is evidence that small outbreaks 

 had previously occurred in New York for in the Country Gentleman of 1861 

 (Vol. 45, p. 299) "Acer*' says with reference to this species, "These insects have 

 disappeared three times during the last thirty years." The first of the outbreaks 

 thus implied probably occurred between 1826 and 1830, the second between 1840 

 and 18-f4, the third was the one referred to by Fitch and Eaton. 



In his ' Fifth Report of the Insects of New York,' 1859, Fitch says of these 

 caterpillars, " a few are seen every year and occasionally there is a season when 

 they are more common but never numerous," He also states that they were 

 about the same in Baltimore, nothing approaching stripping having been known 

 /in that vicinity in his generation. 



The Country Gentleman of 1868, makes several references to the severe out- 

 break of that year in New York. The caterpillars were reported as " more 

 numerous and destructive in New York State than ever before," and it is also 

 stated that " they have twice disappeared in this place." 



From the foregoing notes on its history we have reason to believe that the 

 ravages of the Forest Tent Caterpillar were not very severe previous to 1859, as 

 there is no record of stripping except that by Smith and Abbot, concerning the 

 oaks in Virginia. These ravages were probably restricted to a few of the north- 

 eastern States. We note, however, that the insect was present previous to 1797, 

 that there were outbreaks of a more or less serious nature in Massachusetts in 

 1820; in that State and in New York between 1826 and 1830; again between 

 1840 and 1844; and about ten years later in New Hampshire and New York. 



The next outbreak, noted in the Country Gentleman of 1868, was much more 

 widespread and severe than any of the preceding. Its ravages now extended over 

 the entire region. The editor of the Canada Farmer reported " many orchards 

 defoliated" near Toronto in June of that year. Walsh {Practical Entomologist 

 2, pp. 112-113) noted its occurrence "in large numbers" in the orchards in 

 Maine in 1866 and in the following year on oak in Virginia and in orchards 

 in New York. Brackett' reports their ravages in Maine in 1867. Kiley in his 

 '1867! Brackett, G. E., Am. Journ. of Hort., Sept., 1867. 



