NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 



The larvae transform to pupae during the month of June, the moths 

 appearing from the latter part of June till the latter part of July. In 

 exceptional cases these dates may be considerably extended. Males 

 emerge in advance of the opposite sex, and shortly after the females 

 appear, pairing takes place and egg deposition begins. The embryos are 

 frequently well developed within the egg in two or three weeks after 

 oviposition, but as a rule the caterpillars do not emerge till the next spring. 

 A case is on record of eggs hatching in early September of 1895 at 

 Woburn Mass., but the round of life was not completed, and in this northern 

 latitude at least, there need be little fear of two generations annually. 



Food plants. One of the most dangerous features of the gipsy moth 

 is the exceedingly large number of plants on which its caterpillars thrive. 

 They will eat without hesitation almost all our native shrubs and trees and, 

 when hard pushed, they can subsist for a time, at least, on a number of 

 herbaceous plants. The common fruit trees, the elms, maples and oaks are 

 all eaten most readily, and, even were the list no greater, the pest would be 

 a most serious one to combat. It feeds on many other plants, as the list of 

 536, given in the exhaustive report on this insect in 1896, attests. It is 

 very true that the caterpillar feeds on some of these only when compelled 

 by starvation, and that it can not be considered an enemy of a number of 

 others, but, even after making most liberal allowance for these, the list is 

 still a very formidable one. 



Destructiveness. Countless instances of serious injury by this pest 

 could be given, even if we did not go outside of America. It is well known 

 as a grievous pest in many parts of Europe, and its operations in this 

 country, when unhindered by man, have been appalling. Personal observa- 

 tion of the infested area since 1891 leads me to consider this pest a much 

 worse insect enemy than the forest tent caterpillar. It defoliates forest 

 and other trees just as completely as Malacosoma d i s s t r i a, and 

 a series of disturbances such as those caused by this native pest may be 

 expected when the insect becomes well established in New York State. 



Means of dispersal. One of the redeeming features about the gipsy 



