158 JOURNAL OF ECONOMIC ENTOMOLOGY [Vol. 3 



a plantation of imported nursery stock, led to the conclusion that 

 the insect was a foreign species, and probably an Ermine Moth. Some 

 of the larvie were kept in breeding cages to obtain some adults which 

 began to make their appearance on July 9. These were compared 

 with descriptions of various authorities, and the insect was identified 

 as the Cherry Ermine Moth {Hyponomeuta padella L.), and a state- 

 ment to that effect was published in the Journal of Economic En- 

 tomology, Vol. 2. p. 305. To make certain the identity of the 

 species which we had bred, several specimens of the moths were later 

 sent to Dr. Paul Marchal of the Entomological Station of Paris, who 

 confirmed our identification. This is the first time that the pest has 

 been reported to exist in the United States, and the attention of 

 entomologists is called to the circumstances of its introduction and 

 discovery, and to the economic importance of the Ermine jMoths as 

 fruit pests. 



General Characters of the Ermine Moths. These moths belong 

 to the genus Hyponomeuta of the Tincina. There are only a few 

 species but the genus is widely distributed. The moths are small, 

 with an expanse of wings varying from twenty to twenty-five milli- 

 meters, according to the species. The anterior wings are snowy-white 

 or greyish, marked with black dots, hence the name Ermine Moths. 

 The hind wings are darker and have long fringes. The classification 

 of the moths is attended with considerable difficulty because of the 

 confusion which has prevailed in the synonymy and the exceeding 

 variableness of the characters which distinguish the species. This is 

 not surprising as the caterpillars and moths of one species resemble 

 like stages of another. The caterpillars of several species have host- 

 plants in common and life histories are very similar. 



The caterpillars are gregarious and live wdthin a silken web. The 

 cocoons are spun in close proximity to each other in the nests. 



Species Attacking Fruit Trees and Host-Plants. European 

 writers have generally held that -there are two common species which 

 live on fruit trees, viz. — H. tnalinella Z. and H. padella L. The 

 former is a common pest on apples. It has also been recorded as oc- 

 curring on the wild service tree (Sorhus tormenalis) and Doctor Mar- 

 chaP has reported its presence in destructive numbers on the almond 

 (Amygdalus cotrununis) . The latter, popularly known as the Cherry 

 Ermine Moth feeds principally on the cultivated plum, blackthorn 

 {Primus spinosa) and hawthorn {Cratcegus oxyacantha) . Other 



^ Mai-clial, Paul, Bulletin de la Societe d' Etude et de Vulgarisation de la Zo- 

 ologie Agricole, No. 4, p. 13-26. 1902. 



