1907 ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 27 



daceous beetles from Europe, and the amount of success wliicli had so far 

 attended their efforts to breed them. Dr. Fyles 'followed with one of his 

 charming papers "The Voices of the Night." Much regret was expressed 

 that the attendance was small owing to the attractions of the holiday, it 

 being Thanksgiving Day and Hallowe'en 



THE GYPSY AND BEOWN-TAIL MOTHS IN MASSACHUSETTS. 



Abstract of Address by A. H. Kirkland, Supt. of Gypsy Moth Work, 



Boston, Mass. 



After congratulating his audience upon the evidences of agricultural 

 prosperity shown in the parts of the province through which he had passed, 

 and speaking of the serious loss to agriculture often inflicted by injurious 

 insects, Mr. Kirkland took up the matter of imported insect pests, and ex- 

 plained why they were so much more injurious to crops and trees than 

 native insects. 



"In a state of nature, every insect has its enemies, such as birds, dis- 

 eases, and, most important, insect parasites. When an insect pest is trans- 

 ported thousands of miles to another country, and is thus freed from its 

 natural enemies, it multiplies remarkably, and causes much greater dam- 

 age than when in its native environment, simply because it is relieved from 

 those checks which nature has provided for it. Thus the San Jose scale 

 is much more injurious in this country than in its native home in Northern 

 China. The Elm-leaf Beetle and the Gypsy and Brown-Tail Moths also 

 give striking illustrations of this fact. These two moth pests have caused 

 most serious havoc in eastern New England, have spread rapidly, and one, 

 at least, the Brown-tail Moth, occurs in the Maritime Provinces of Can- 

 ada." 



The speaker then described the importation of the Gypsy-moth to 

 Medford, Mass., by Professor Leopold Trouvelot in 1868, its accidental 

 escape from his care, and its slow but constant spread throughout the 

 neighboring towns. "Recognizing the importance of the catastrophe, 

 Professor Trouvelot promptly gave notice to Doctor C. V. Riley, then State 

 Entomologist of Missouri, and also to Doctor Hagen, at Harvard Univer- 

 siiy Unfortunately, no great importance was attached to the matter, al- 

 though at this time |1,000 would have cut and burned over the many acres 

 of brush land in the vicinity of Profesor Trouvelot's home and wiped out 

 tic incipient moth colony. The moth increased unrestrictedly for some 

 twenty years, but in 1888 the public of Medford and vicinity suddenly 

 woke up to the fact that they had a serious caterpillar plague on their 

 bands, and at once made vigorous efforts to combat it. One year's experi- 

 ence was sufficient to show them that individual effort could not control 

 this formidable pest, and the aid of the cities and towns was invoked. 

 Another year convinced the cities and towns in turn that they could not 

 fight the insect unaided, and the State of Massachusetts was asked for help. 

 The work in Massachusetts began in 1890 and was continued until Eeb- 

 ruarv 1, 1900, principally under the auspices of the Massachusetts Board 

 of Aarriculture. This work suffered in certain critical years from lack of 

 sufficient appropriations, or from appropriations not made in season for 

 most effective action. At the same time, great progress was made in bring- 

 ing the insect under control, until in 1900 but few moths could be found 

 anywhere in the infested region. The insect had been thoroughly suppressed 



