many rows of large maples were entire!}' defoliated, rendering them 

 very unsightly. (Sec fig. 3.) At about the same time Doctor Riley 

 reported similar complete defoliation on the grounds of the State 

 agricultural college at Manhattan, Ivans., and of the State univer- 

 sity at Lawrence, Kans. In 1901 Mr. F. E. Brooks reported great 

 damage to the foliage of maple in the vicinity of French Creek, 

 W. Va. Since 1905 the species has been abundant in portions of 

 Mar} land and Virginia, but not noticeably troublesome. 



During 1908 it was devastating forests in and around Fryeburg, 

 Me. At that time it almost entirely stripped maple and — it was said — 

 oak, beech, birch, apple, and other deciduous trees over a very large 

 section, but it seems probable that other species were present, as in 

 other cases reported to this office.'* It was particularly troublesome 

 to shade maples in Maine, New Hampshire, and Pennsylvania. 



NATUKAL ENP:MIES. 



The green-striped maple worm is frequently eaten ))y domestic 

 fowls and by many l)irds. Of these the robin and yellow- billed 

 cuckoo have been recorded ])y Bruner.'' He reports both of these 

 birds as actively engaged in picking up and swallowing the "worms" 

 as late as September 20, at Lincoln, Nebr. The bluebird, tufted tit- 

 mouse, red-headed woodpecker, red-eyed vireo, and crow blackbird 

 are also stated by the late Prof. F. H. Snow to eat the "worms." 

 while the moths also are sometimes destroyed by birds. To the above 

 list Prof. F. E. L. Beal, of the Bureau of Biological Survey, adds the 

 black-billed cuckoo and the great-crested flycatcher as enemies of this 

 insect. 



This species is parasitized by a common ichneumon fly, Limnerium 

 fugitiviun Say, a rather general parasite of lepidopterous larva;. Two 

 tachina flies have been reared from it, Frontina froiclili Will., from 

 Washington, D. C, and vicinity, and Bdvosla hifasciata Fab., from 

 northern Missouri. Among the old Riley notes is a record of the 

 rearing of an &gvr parasite, but the species has not been determined. 



At one time the electric lights in some of tlie large cities men- 

 tioned were the means of attracting and destroying large numbers of 

 the moths, and both moths and caterpillars were destroyed in large 

 numbers by passers-b}-, who trampled on them. 



As a rule little is to be expected from tachina flies as a means of 

 controlling insect pests, and the ichneumon mentioned, being a gen- 

 eral parasite, is not an efficient destroyer of this particular species. In 



aThe other species concerned in damage were Ileterorampa gnltivitta Walk, and 

 H. billneaia Pack., principally to forest trees, although during the year they injured 

 maple groves and attacked sugar maple and a considerable variety of the forest trees 

 in New P^ngland. 



6 Lawrence Bruner, 1890, Bull. 14 Nebr. Agr. Exp. 8ta., pp. 54-59. 



[Cir. 110] 



