Forest Protection 173 



to fly that night. Both sexes are pure white, except the 

 abdomen, which is dark brown. The wing spread is from 

 1J to 1| inches. The tip of the abdomen of the female 

 forms a large tuft or brush of golden or dark brown hairs, 

 to which is due the name of the insect. They are strong 

 fliers and readily attracted by lights. Egg-laying com- 

 mences at once. The egg mass, dark brown in color from 

 the hairs from the tip of the female's abdomen, is laid on 

 the under side of a leaf near the outside of the tree. It is 

 about J by J inch and contains from two to four hundred 

 eggs. It is decidedly convex and ridged. The eggs 

 hatch in about three weeks, about the first of August. 

 The young caterpillars feed upon the surfaces of leaves, 

 skeletonizing them, and when abundant causing the 

 leaves to turn brown. They grow rapidly and spread over 

 the tree. In September they weave the web for their 

 winter home. 



The brown-tail moth prefers fruit trees, but when very 

 numerous attacks all kinds of shade and forest trees. The 

 damage is caused by defoliations, as in the case of the gipsy 

 moth. In addition to the danger to the trees, the fine 

 hairs from the tubercles on the caterpillars are blown about 

 by the wind at the time of molting and cause a painful 

 skin irritation wherever they light. 



The best known remedy is the collection of the winter 

 webs between October 1 and April 1. They should be 

 clipped off with long pruning shears and burned in a stove, 

 since they do not burn readily in the open. 



Spraying of the caterpillars in early August is also 

 effective. The caterpillars are much more susceptible 

 than those of the gipsy moth. This, however, is more 



