THE GIPSY MOTH 1 AND THE BROWN-TAIL 

 MOTH 2 AND THEIR CONTROL. 



CONTENTS. 



The gipsy moth 5 



Seasonal history 5 



Means by which the gipsy moth is spread . 6 



Food plants 7 



Injury caused by the gipsy moth 7 



Native enemies 8 



Introduced parasites and enemies 9 



The brown-tail moth 10 



Seasonal history 10 



Food plants 10 



Injury caused by the brown-tail moth 10 



Native enemies 12 



Introduced parasites and enemies 14 



Hand methods for controlling the brown-tail 



moth... 14 



Page. 

 General hand methods for controlling the 



gipsy moth.... 



Hand methods to be used against the gipsy 



moth in orchards 



Hand methods for controlling the gipsy moth 



in cities and towns 



Methods for controlling the gipsy moth in 



woodland 



Methods of controlling the brown-tail moth in 



woodland 



State work against the gipsy moth and the 



brown-tail moth.' 24 



Work carried on by the Bureau of Entomology 26 



Cooperative work 27 



The outlook 28 



15 



I'J 



21 



22 



24 



IN 1869 a number of egg clusters of the gipsy moth, an insect pest 

 destructive in Europe, were brought from France to Medf ord, Mass., 

 by a naturalist who was carrying on experimental work with insects. 

 Later in the season some of the caterpillars escaped, and although 

 none was found in the vicinity during the next few years, enough 

 specimens survived to enable the species to establish itself. In 

 the summer of 1889 this insect became so abundant that fruit and 

 shade trees in the neighborhood were completely defoliated, and 

 the caterpillars swarmed over the trees and into the houses and 

 became a serious nuisance. Valuable trees were lost and property 

 values in that section depreciated. 



For about 10 years effective work against the gipsy moth was car- 

 ried on by the State of Massachusetts, and during this period the 

 bisect was kept under control. The work was discontinued in 1900, 

 but the species had become so abundant and had caused such wide- 

 spread injury by 1905 that systematic work was renewed by the 

 State for the protection of tree growth in the infested area. This 

 work has been continued up to the present time, and as the insect 

 has spread to other New England States it has become necessary 

 to institute more extensive control measures. 



In 1906, after the gipsy moth had become established in New 

 Hampshire and Rhode Island, as well as in Massachusetts, an appro- 



Porthetria dispar L. 



8 Euproctis chrysorrhoea L. 



