147 



HlCKOKY TiGEK MoTH. 



During the present year the caterpillars of the hiekorv 

 tiger moth {Halisldota caryoe Harr.) have been unusually 

 abundant. Their contrasting colors attract attention against 

 a background of green leaves, and their size when full grown 

 is such that they can consume 

 a considerable amount of 

 food. They feed ordinarily 

 on the hickory, walnut, elm 

 and other shade and forest 

 trees, but at times are quite Hickory uger moth, 



abundant in orchards, particularly on the plum trees. The 

 moths appear in June, but, as they fly only at night, are not 

 often seen. The eggs are laid in clusters on the under side 

 of the leaves, and the caterpillars at first feed together, but 

 as they grow older scatter in different directions and often 

 to other trees. They become full grown in September, and 

 then seek for sheltered places, where they sj)in their cocoons 

 in which to spend the winter and following spring till it is 

 time for the moths to appear. 



The presence of the caterpillars of this insect is not often 

 of any great importance ; but when they become so abundant 

 as to defoliate a tree to any great extent, it is well to check 

 their ravages either by a little hand picking or by spraying 

 with arsenate of lead, which will quickly destroy them. 



Pear Psylla. 

 The San Jose scale, codling moth, canker worms, bud moth 

 and several others of the insects already considered are as 

 likely to be found on the pear as on the apple, but the pear 

 psylla (Psylla pijricola Forst.) appears to depend almost ex- 

 clusively upon the pear for its food. This tiny insect, less 

 than a sixteenth of an inch long, and without colors to make 

 it conspicuous, may be abundant in a pear orchard long 

 enough to make its presence seriously felt, and even to cause 

 the death of the trees, without its presence being suspected 



