ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF ONTARIO. 6a 



Mr. J. P. Dill, of Medford, also gives a graphic account descriptive of the great 

 numbers and annoyance due to this scourge : " The caterpillars first appeared in May 

 and were at their worst in July. They ate all the leaves off the trees until it seemed as 

 though fire had run through them, trees finally becoming as leafless as in midwinter. 

 After eating the apple tree leaves, they completely stripped a Bartlett pear tree. We got 

 no fruit from either the pear tree or the apple trees that year. That summer we could 

 have got the caterpillars out of the holes in the trees by pecks. After the caterpillars 

 had eaten all the leaves off the trees, they went down into the grass where they swarmed. 

 When the plague was at its worst, that summer, I do not exaggerate when I say that 

 there was not a place on the outside of the house, where you could put your hand with- 

 out touching caterpillars. At the time the caterpillars were the thickest on the treeSj 

 we could plainly hear the noise of their nibbling at night. It sounded like the pattering 

 of very fine rain drops. If wo walked under the trees, we got nothing less than a shower 

 hath of caterpillars, which spun down from the trees by hundreds, even when they were 

 of large size." 



There are several letters in the same tenor, bearing evidence to the enormous numbers 

 of this pest at the time when the assistance of the State Entomologist was sought in 1889. 

 We find that immediately following this, vigorous steps were taken to make known the 

 gravity of the occurrence, and the Legislature was induced to make appropriations and 

 appoint the Commission, which, by its energetic and successful efiorts, has attracted the 

 attention and admiration of the whole world. 



Undoubtedly, one of the reasons that this insect made such headway without being 

 noticed generally, was the culpable and unpardonable ignorance which prevails everywhere 

 and in all countries, even among sensible people, concerning the habits of the injurious 

 insects which yearly destroy such vast quantities of produce of all kinds. This ignorance 

 on the part of the public is unpardonable, because it is in a large measure unnecessary ; 

 not onlj have efficient remedies been found out by officers paid by themselves through 

 the State treasury, but the results of the work of these officials are in most cases at the 

 disposal of anyone who will ask for them. Another reason that the pest did not sooner 



d 



Fig. 44. — Gypsy moth, chrysalis. 



attract attention, was probably that the caterpillars feed normally at night, and during 

 the day hide in cracks and crevices of the bark, or rest on the trunks of trees, where 

 by reason of their colouring they are not easily detected. It is only when their numVjers 

 become excessive and the food supply is diminished, that they feed at all times of the day 

 and night, and wander from place to place. A feature of the work of the Commission 

 has been the making known, as widely as possible, the appearance of this insect in all its 

 stages. Not only were beautifully coloured plates published in all the reports, but show 

 cases were made up and distributed to schools and public institutions, illustrating by 

 actual specimens the appearance of the eggs, caterpillars, chrysalis, and perfect moths. 



The eggs are laid from July to September in oval or rounded clusters, containing 

 from four to five hundred eggs, covered with the yellowish hair from the body of the 

 female. These clusters of eggs are placed indiscriminately on any object near to where 



