284 THE GYPSY MOTH. 



(1895) nearly defoliated the forests iu the government of 

 Kalonga, 



Notwithstandinsj the general damaa^e to all kinds of ve^e- 

 tation in Europe, the greatest complaint comes from the 

 fruit-growing districts, where this insect shows a preference 

 for the foliaofe of fruit trees. 



Methods of Destroying the Gypsy Moth in Europe. 



The natural enemies of the gypsy moth, as the birds, 

 parasites and predaceous insects, are relied upon to. a great 

 extent to keep it in check in European countries, except in 

 localities where it is very abundant, and the outbreaks very 

 frequent. It should be borne iu mind that the European 

 methods are not for the purpose of exterminating or even 

 preventing the spread of this insect; for, as has already 

 been stated, it is more or less common ever^'where. The 

 extermination of this pest in Europe by artificial means 

 would probably be an absolute impossibility, and, therefore, 

 all that is attempted is to destroy it wherever it appears in 

 great abundance. 



The usual methods are to scrape off the egg-clusters and 

 burn them, or cover them over with raupenleim or other 

 materials in the fall, winter or spring before they hatch, 

 applying the substance by means of a brush on a long 

 pole to those egg-clusters that are too far above the ground 

 to be reached in any other way. Later in the season the 

 trees are protected from those caterpillars that hatch from 

 egg-clusters laid on the ground or elsewhere, by banding 

 with raupenleim. The caterpillars are destroyed whenever 

 found, generally by crushing them as soon as they hatch, 

 and while they are still clustering on the egg-mass, form- 

 ing the so-called " spiegel." The pupte are destroyed by 

 hand, and also the female moths before they have laid their 

 eggs. 



Dr. N. Xasonov, of the Warsaw University Museum of 

 Zoology, in the letter previously cited, writes that, in Po- 

 land, the principal measures used iu combating these in- 

 sects are to destroy the eggs, band the trunk of the trees 

 with raupenleim and gather the caterpillars and pupte by 



