GIPSY AND BROWN-TAILED MOTHS 233 



much restricted, the State discontinued its efforts, and in a 

 few years it had spread over a large area and its extermina- 

 tion was deemed impossible. A few years later wState and 

 National efforts for control were inaugurated and have been 

 pushetl vigorously in several different ways. The species has 

 caused great losses, and both State and National govern- 

 ments have spent great sums in attem])ting to keep it from 

 spreading and increasing. 



The life history of the species is an important factor in 

 control. The moths appear in midsummer and autumn and 

 the males and females differ in appearance but l)oth ha\'e 

 wings, though those of the female are weak and their flight 

 is limited. Distribution of the species by the flight of the 

 females seems to be almost nothing, and the spread of the 

 species is mainly by the distribution of caterpillars. The 

 eggs are deposited in late summer and the egg masses sur- 

 vive the winter attached to trees, bark, etc. They hatch 

 in spring or early summer and the larvae make their growth 

 during the early summer months. They may be so numerous 

 as to almost completely strip the foliage of plants. At such 

 times the caterpillars make every effort to scatter, attach- 

 ing themselves to vehicles, etc. There are se\eral parasites 

 for the species, but none which are distinctly effective in 

 this country in keeping the species down. Different methods 

 adopted by the Massachusetts Commission are extremely 

 interesting. A volume has been published on the Gipsy 

 moth. Spraying, burning, scraping of trunks of trees, etc., 

 have all })een used. In one instance every inch of an 

 immense elm tree was gone over. Extended efforts ha\'e been 

 made to introduce parasites and predaceous enemies to aid 

 in control of the species. 



Brown-tailed Moth. — Another species of rather recent 

 introduction is the brown-tailed moth which was first 

 observed in Massachusetts in the ^dcinity of Boston about 

 the year 1890 or 1891. This is a native of central Europe 

 and is particularly common in France and Germany where 

 it is recognized as a destructive species. The female flies 

 readily, and thus it has spread more rapidly than the Gipsy 



