August, 1896.] ]^(J9 



THE GYPSY MOTH IN ENaLAND* 

 BY PROF. C. H. FERNALD, A.M., Ph.D., F.E.S. 



The earliest information that I have found of the presence of 

 the gypsy moth in England, is given by Wilkes, in his work, entitled, 

 " Twelve New Designs of English Butterflies," published in London 

 in 1741-42, with twelve plates, but without text. Plate X, Fig. 2, 

 represents the insect under the name " The Gipsey Moth." 



Harris described it in his " Aurelian's Pocket Companion," 

 published in 1775. Donovan, in his " Natural History of British 

 Insects," Vol. V, published in 1796, figures this insect on Plate 

 CLXIII, and describes it on pages 67-69, calling it the " Gipsey 

 Moth." In his account he says : " That the Phalena Dispar was not 

 uncommonly scarce about fifteen years ago, is evident from this 

 circumstance, few collections of British insects that were in the 

 hands of eminent collectors are without an English specimen, which 

 was procured about that time." Erom his further account we infer 

 that he considered it a rare insect in England. Haworth, in his 

 " Lepidoptera Britannica," page 88, published in 1803, calls it Bomhyx 

 disparus, and for a common name "The Gipsy," and says it is very 

 rare. Salisbury, in his " Hints to Proprietors of Orchards," published 

 in London in 1816, gives the fullest and most complete account of the 

 gypsy moth that I have seen in England up to that date. He states 

 that this caterpillar is common in gardens and woods, where it does 

 considerable damage. 



Stephens, in Vol. II, page 56, " Illustrations of British Ento- 

 mology," Haustellata, 1829, says it is not common near London, but 

 appears to abound in the fens of Huntingdonshire. He also refers 

 to the statement that it was introduced into Britain by eggs imported 

 by Mr. Collinson, but says that the abundance with which it occurs 

 near Whittlesea, and the dissimilarity of the indigenous specimens 

 (which are invariably paler, with stronger markings) to the foreign, 

 sufficiently refute the opinion. 



Curtis, in his " British Entomology," Vol. XVI, 1839, alludes to 

 the scarcity of this species in the time of Donovan, and speaks of 

 finding them in considerable numbers, when a boy, in the marshes at 

 Horning, in Norfolk. Mr. Stainton, in his " Manual of Butterflies 

 and Moths," Vol. I, page 130, 1857, says, " It is found plentifully in 

 fenny districts, but is not generally common." George Xearley, in 



• Extracted from the Massachusetts Official Report, pp. 26S-273. 



