No. 4.] SHADE-TREE INSECT PROBLEM. 



85 



era part of the State, and we must now prepare for the time 

 when it will become generally diffused throughout this and 

 adjoining States. For two years it has had an opportunity 

 to multiply unrestricted, and the developments of last sum- 

 mer would lead us to anticipate a repetition of the outbreak 

 of 1888-89 in the near future. Already in many localities 

 in the metropolitan district formidable colonies of the moth 

 have seriously menaced park and shade trees. The Fells 

 reservation of the metropolitan park system is badly in- 

 fested, and most strenuous efforts will be needed in the near 

 future, if one of our most beautiful park areas is to be pre- 

 served intact for the enjoyment 

 of our citizens. 



The parent moth lays its eggs 

 to the number of live hundred to 

 one thousand, in a yellow, hairy 

 covered mass, on tree trunks, 

 fences, buildings, walls, etc. The 

 eggs hatch early the following 

 May, and the caterpillars swarm 

 abroad in search of food. They 

 devour both buds and leaves, and 

 sometimes even attack the tender 

 bark of the twio-s. As soon as 

 the foliage develops they give it 

 their undivided attention, feeding 

 chiefly by day. When about one- 

 third grown their feeding habits change, and the insects 

 seek shelter by day and feed almost entirely by night. The 

 full-grown caterpillar is. sparingly covered with stout hairs, 

 and has a double row of tubercles along the back. On the 

 five anterior segments these tubercles are blue ; on the six 

 posterior, dark red. 



The caterpillars pupate in masses in any convenient shel- 

 tered locality, particularly at the bases of large branches, 

 and in about a fortnight the moths emerge. The males are 

 yellowish brown, expand about one inch, and fly actively on 

 warm days. The females are somewhat larger than the 

 males, white, sparingly marked with black, and, although 



Fig. 2. 



Egg - cluster of gypsy 

 moth. 



