■19 



NOTES OF THE YEAH. 



By \V. Saunders, London, Ont. 



During the past suiniuer there has been <xu unusual scarcity of insect lite. Whetln-i 

 this is to be attributed to ther extreme severity of the winter, or to the very dry summer 

 which preceded it, we are unable to determine ; possibly both may have had something 

 to do with the result. Our usually common butterflies were seldom seen during the 

 summer, and those nocturnal visitors, the moths, as compared with the abundance of 

 average years, were " few and far between." The same scarcity has been noted amouL' 

 our insect pests — the plagues of the gardener and fruit-grower. Some, which have been 

 abundant for many years past, were notably scarce, viz. : 



The Tent Catei;pill.\r [Olisiocampa Americana), Harris. 



F'o 7 Some years ago, the caterpillars of this 



species were enormously abundant. They 

 were to be seen in almost every orcharil, 

 stripping the apple, cherry and plum trees of 

 their foliage, and playing similar pranks 

 among our thorn bushes, wild cherry trees, 

 and other trees and shrubs in our woods 

 and along our roadsides. Evervone must 

 be familiar with the white web-nests of 

 this caterpillar. They have, however, been 

 lessening in numbers in the western por 

 tion of Ontario for several years past, until 

 now their presence is scarcely felt as an 

 annoyance. The lessening of this evil is 

 doubtless due partly to the vigilance of our 

 farmers and fruit-growers ; for while with us 

 this insect has been decreasing, in many parts 

 of Lower Canada, where the cold of winter 

 ~ much more intense than with us, the dc- 

 -luetion of trees by this tent caterpillar is 

 bitterly comi)lained of, and they remain as 

 al)un(lant or wore abundant than ever ; and 

 the same remarks will apply to some of the 

 eastern sections of our own Province. We 

 trust, also, that some portion of the credit of 

 our almost exemption from this pest may be 

 due to the information scattered bioadcast from year to year in our Annual Reports, by 

 which our farmers and fruit-growers have been instructed how to contend with this and 

 various other insect enemies in tiie most advantageous manner. 



A cluster of the eggs from which these caterpillars hatch are shown at f, fig. 7. They 

 are generally deposited iliiring the month of July upon the smaller twigs of our fruit 

 trees, each one ccmtaining upwards of 200 eggs, sometimes more, all enclosed in an oval 

 ring-like cluster. Krjuly cemented together and coated with a varnish which is alike unin- 

 jured by sun or rain. About the time when the buds begin to burst, these caterpillars 

 hatch, and at once begin to spin for themselves a web or covering, in which they can take. 



