INSECT PESTS OF OHIO SHADE AND FOREST TREES 277 



THE BROWN-TAIL MOTH 



(Euproctis chrysorrhoea Linn) 



Somewhat more than a quarter of a century after the introduc- 

 tion of the gipsy moth into the United States, another and more 

 serious pest was imported from Europe. The brown-tail moth be- 

 came established at Somerville, Mass., in 1897, and while it has not 

 been in this country more than half as long it now occupies a con- 

 siderably larger territory than the gipsy moth. 



At the same time, by reason of facts which will be brought out 

 later, it is a much more undesirable resident. Thus far it has not 

 been introduced into Ohio, but the people of the State are indebted 

 for this fact to the efficient State Bureau of Horticulture, since on 

 several occasions the over-wintering form has been taken on plants 

 shipped in. 



Description. The name "brown-tail moth" aptly describes the 

 adult of this species since the insect is pure, lustrous, satiny-white 

 with the abdomen tipped with a conspicuous reddish-brown tuft. 

 Sometimes, however, there are a few black spots on the fore wings. 

 The white antennae are fringed with light brown hairs and the veins 

 of the wings show a slight light brown tinge. 



The female measures 1% inches across her expanded wings 

 and the male 1% inches. For a good illustration of the insect in its 

 various stages the reader is referred to Plate XLV. The yellow, 

 globular eggs are deposited in compact masses of from 200 to 300 

 on the underside of a leaf. Each mass is about three-fourths of an 

 inch in length and is covered with the brown hairs from the tip of 

 the abdomen of the female moth. 



The full-grown caterpillar ranges from 1 to 1% inches in 

 length. The body color is very dark brown to almost black and is 

 clothed with tufts of barbed poisonous hairs arranged on tubercles. 

 Most of the tubercles bear brown hairs, but rows on each side of 

 the body have some white ones, and a coral red tuft appears on each 

 of the tenth and eleventh segments. 



The pupa is about five-eighths of an inch in length, dark brown 

 in color and is found in a loosely-woven cocoon in any convenient 

 crevice or shelter. 



Life history and habits. The winter is passed in the partly- 

 grown larval condition within the shelter of a few leaves drawn 

 together by a silken web. These over-wintering webs in some 

 respects closely resemble the larval retreat of the mocha stone moth 

 as shown in Plate XXXIX, Fig. 1. With the first signs of spring the 

 larvae become active and begin feeding upon the developing buds of 



