INJURIOUS INSECTS. 143 



trees, have probably received as much attention in Boston and 

 vicinity as in any part of the country. Yet the value of the well- 

 known tar-coated or ink-coated bands, placed on the trunks of the 

 trees, is but little understood, and complaints are often made of their 

 inefficiency. This worm is one of the easiest to control of all our 

 insect pests ; the chief requisites being the proper banding of the 

 trunks at the right season, and care to keep the tar or ink coating 

 in good effective condition. 



The female canker-worm moths are wingless. The larvae 

 (known also as loopers, inch-worms, or measuring-worms, from their 

 manner of locomotion) drop or crawl to the ground to pupate, and 

 when the moths emerge they must creep up the trunk of the tree 

 in order to deposit their eggs on the branches, where they are 

 usually placed. A proper band will keep every female moth from 

 ascending. Bands of printer's ink, six inches or more in width, 

 applied directly on the bark, or upon stout cloth or other material, 

 are most commonly employed, and are quite as efficient as the 

 much more expensive oil troughs occasionally used. The object 

 is to prevent the wingless females from ascending, by entrapping 

 them in the sticky substance. The moths ascend both in the late 

 autumn and in spring ; therefore, in order to keep all from pass- 

 ing over the bauds, these must be kept in a moist and sticky 

 condition from the last of October until hard frosts in December, 

 and again in early spring until no moths are to be found climbing 

 the trees. An unusually mild period in winter may induce some 

 of the *noths to come out, and in such an event the bands should 

 be freshly coated. It is also well to keep the bands sticky until 

 after apple blossoming time, so that any young larvae, which may 

 have hatched from eggs deposited below the bands, will not be 

 able to ascend. 



Besides printer's ink, any sticky substance may be used which 

 does not dry too quickly. Among such substances may be men- 

 tioned tar, mixed with oil to prevent too quick drying ; slow 

 drying varnishes ; the German preparation known as Insect 

 Lime, and even thick refuse molasses. When the substance is 

 applied on a band of cloth or other material it is very important 

 that no large, open crevices remain on the bark beneath ; tow, or 

 cotton batting, will be found a good filling. No contiguous trees 

 should remain unprotected. 



