88 CANADIAN FORESTRY ASSOCIATION. 



The larvae of the Brown-tail moth are also injurious in Massachusetts; and as their 

 fine barbed hairs are easily detached, and carried in the air, they often settle upon the 

 passers-by, work their way into the pores of the skin, and cause much suffering. They 

 are greatly to be dreaded. A lady wrote concerning them : ' We first noticed the 

 caterpillars in 1897, and we could do nothing with them. We had to take brooms 

 and sweep them away from the doors. They ate the leaves off the trees, so that we did 

 not get any fruit that year, or in 1898. The caterpillars seemed to come all at once. 

 We were all poisoned with them. The houses were full of them. They were a sight. 

 They were on everything, fences, shrubbery and flower bushes. The place was fairly 

 alive with them. They were even in the bed rooms.' (Mrs. Peter Mooley, in Fer- 

 nald and Kirkland's Report on the Brown-tail Moth, 1903, page 19.) 



Fancy the good lady with her broom, like Mrs. Partington, sweeping back the 

 sea. 



The larvae of the Leopard moth are borers. The species has in some way been 

 carried from Europe to New York. 



In Canada a very common and mischievous pest is the Forest-tree Tent Cater- 

 pillar, Clisiocampa disstria, Hubner. This also flourishes more abundantly some years 

 than others. In 1899, it and its congener, Clisiocampa Americana, Fabricus, were so 

 abundant in the counties of Drummond and Shefford, that they stripped the second 

 .growth trees bare. Hordes of them crossing the railway, brought the train to a stand- 

 still the rails having become slippery with crushed larvae. 



The larva of C. disstria can readily be distinguished from that of C. Americana 

 (the Orchard Tent-Caterpillar.) It has a Hue head, and a row of silvery spots down 

 tne back; while the other has a Hack head, and a continuous white dorsal line. 



I consider C. disstria the worst of the leaf -eating foes of our hard-wood trees. 



The larvae of the Tussock Moths, Notolophus antiqua, Linneus, and Notolophus 

 leucostigma, Smith and Abbot, are handsome but mischievous. They are tufted along 

 the back, as the generic name indicates. Those of the latter species may be known 

 by their red heads. Both kinds feed upon a variety of trees. Dr. Felt says of Leu- 

 costigma : ' This species feeds readily on elm and maple leaves, displaying a special 

 preference for horse-chestnut and linden, and frequently does considerable damage.' 

 (Bulletin, No. 27, N. Y. St. Mus. p. 41.) 



With us at Quebec both kinds particularly affect the white willow. In 1897, 

 which was a great insect year all over the country, the white patches of the eggs of 

 N. leucostigma could be seen, in great numbers, on the trunks of the willows on 

 Mountain Hill. 



The males of these Tussock Moths are called " Vaporers " because of their jaunty 

 flight. They skip hither and thither, as Wood says 'Like Coelebs in search of a 

 wife.' The females, on the other hand are most exemplary in their behaviour. St. 

 Paul, if he had been an entomologist, would have admired them greatly they 'go 

 not from house to house.' They remain upon the cocoons from which they crept. 

 There they await their mates ; there they lay their eggs ; and there they die. 



We must not give them too much credit for their domestic virtues. They are 

 aided by the force of circumstances in conducting themselves well they have only 

 rudimentary wings. 



There are a number of large moths, the larva? of which, under peculiar circum- 

 stances, might become injurious to forest-trees. Their very size makes them formid- 

 able. The larva? of the Hawk -moths, Sphinx chersis, Hubner, and Sphinx Kalmice, S 

 & A., feed upon the ash, though I frequently find them on the lilac. This is not sur- 

 prising, for both the lilac and the ash belong to the same family of plants, the 

 OleacecB, of which the olive-tree is the type. 



The larva of Ellema coniferarum, S. & A., feeds upon the pine. I wish the species 

 were a little more common, for m all these years, I have obtained only one specimen 

 of the moth for my collection. 



The larvae of Ceratomia Amyntor, Hubner, feed upon the elm. They have four 

 prominent horns upon their shoulders; and Harris on this account gave them the 



