GIPSY MOTH AND BROWN-TAIL MOTH AND THEIR CONTROL. 3 



The methods of protecting orchards and the street, park, and orna- 

 mental trees in cities and towns are set forth on the following pages, 

 and these methods have been adopted as a result of many extensive 

 experiments. A proper system of orchard management can be 

 adopted which will enable the owner of infested trees to protect them 

 fully without very much expense additional to that required for the 

 control of the other injurious orchard insects. The expense of caring 

 for infested city or park trees is somewhat greater than in the case 

 of infested orchards, but practical methods can be adopted which will 

 not render the cost prohibitive. 



The control of these insects in forests is extremely difficult, owing 

 to the small amount of money that any owner can afford to expend 

 in preventing injury to his woodlands. This being so it is usually 

 more satisfactory to have the woodland examined by an expert 

 familiar with the insects and the best measures to be used for their 

 control in order that suggestions for treatment may be made w^hich 

 will be applicable to the conditions in each particular case. Such in- 

 formation can usually be obtained from the State or local officials 

 engaged in gipsy moth and brown-tail moth work, and so far as 

 possible this office will cooperate with owners and give practical 

 advice and suggestions as to the management of their infested 

 premises. 



THE GIPSY MOTH. 



LIFE HISTORY. 



(Fig. 2.) 



The eggs. The female gipsy moth deposits a cluster containing 



<400 eggs or more, which she covers Avith buff-colored hair. Most of 



the egg clusters are laid during the month of July and hatch about 



the time the leaves begin to appear the following spring. They are 



deposited on the underside of branches of trees, on tree trunks, under 



loose bark, or in cavities in the trunks or branches, and are sometimes 



placed on stones or rubbish and in a variety of situations where they 



are concealed from view. As the female moth does not fly, egg 



blusters are seldom found far from the food plant upon \vhich the 



aterpillars developed. 



The larvae. The newly-hatched larvae feed on the opening leaves, 

 naking small perforations. They grow rapidly and become full fed 

 arly in July. During this period they molt five or six times, and as 

 hey increase in size a larger proportion of the foliage is eaten, so 

 hat if the infestation is severe, trees may be completely stripped of 

 'oliage before the end of June. 



The pujxt '. When full grown the caterpillars shed their skin and 

 ransform to pupae, which are chestnut brown in color and pro- 

 ided with tufts of yellow hairs. They remain in this dormant stage 

 ' >r about 10 days, after which the adult insects emerge. 



