214 



SYSTEMATIC ZOOLOGY 



carpets. The injury which larvae do to vegetation varies with 

 the feeding habits ; thus we have the group of cutworms, larvae 

 of moths, which cut off young garden plants near the root, 

 while some ascend dwarf fruit trees and bite off the fruit buds. 

 The larvae of other moths form the group of borers, which bore 

 into the roots of plants or from the roots into the stalk; some 

 of the more common are the peach tree, grape root, currant, 

 squash vine, and dahlia borers. Some caterpillars roll up the 

 leaves of plants, fastening them together with silk when they 

 build their cocoons ; some of the more common of these are the 

 cotton leaf, peach leaf, grape leaf, and strawberry leaf rollers. 

 Some of the greatest pests are the caterpillars which feed on 

 the leaves of plants and bushes ; the cankerworm is a well- 

 known example ; it attacks the fruit trees, apple, cherry, plum, 

 as well as the elm and others. The currant and gooseberry 

 worms are caterpillars of moths, and the same is true of the 

 cranberry vine worms, which have caused an enormous loss in 

 the cranberry bogs; they are sometimes called fireworms, be- 

 cause the plants look as though a fire had passed over them 

 when the larva- have completed their work. 



One of the most destructive Lepidoptera has been the gypsy 

 moth (Fig. 216), which feeds on the leaves of fruit and forest 

 trees. Until a few years ago it was unknown in America, but 





FlG. 216. Prothctria dispar, the gypsy moth. 1. male; 2, female; natural size. (Drawn 



ii 11111 specimens. 1 



had for at least a century and a half been a pest in most of 

 the countries of Europe. It was accidentally introduced into 

 the town of Medford, near Boston. Massachusetts, about 1869, 

 by a French naturalist, and has since spread over such la: 

 areas that the state has been compelled to undertake the work 

 of checking its advance. 



