44 



PRACTICAL ZOOLOGY 



(Fig. 25, B) has no wings and consequently does very little travel- 

 ing. She lays her eggs on the cocoon from which she emerges 

 (Fig. 25, E) and covers them with a protective coat of white 

 froth which soon becomes hard and brittle. These egg masses 

 are easily seen on the bark of trees and can be destroyed by 

 painting them with creosote. As a general rule, collecting and 

 destroying the eggs of insects is not a very effective way to con- 

 trol them, but in the case of the tussock moth, potato beetle, and 

 a few others, children can be of immense civic service if they 

 band together to fight these insects in this way. The caterpillars 

 may be poisoned by spray- 

 ing the infested trees with 

 Paris green, and can be 

 prevented from crawling 

 from one tree to another 



FIG. 26. 



Gypsy moth : A, female ; B, larva ; C, pupa between leaves. 

 (After Howard.) 



by banding trees near the base with a sticky substance like 

 tangle-foot. 



GYPSY MOTH. The gypsy moth (Fig. 26) has been ex- 

 tremely injurious to shade trees in certain of the Eastern States. 

 It was introduced from Europe at Medford, Massachusetts, in 

 1869, but did not become really abundant until about twenty 

 years later. Within the past two decades millions of dollars 

 have been spent in an effort to check the spread of the moths and 

 destroy those specimens already present. The caterpillar (Fig. 

 26, B) is hairy, and about two inches long. It feeds on all sorts of 

 leaves including pine needles, and does not restrict its diet to one 



