THE TORESTER. 



VOL. VI. 



SEPTEMBER. 1900. 



9- 



OX THE POSSIBLE EFFECTS OF THE GYPSY MOTK 



AMERICAN FOREST- 



Bv X. 



- 



HAL 



Harvard " 



Between twenty and thir: - ago 



the Gypsv Moth ( Ocneria dispar~) 

 effectively introduced into this cou: 

 ng to the peculiar nesting habit - 

 this insect, which lav- its eggs in crannies 

 of furniture, barrels, etc.. as well as on 

 the trees it infv-:-. '.onies had doubtless 

 been frequently hatched within the United 

 States before the su; . . i implantation 

 in Maiden. M - - 5 made. The reason 

 for this difference is to be found in the 

 fact that the naturalist who attained the 

 unhapp- si . - - : x>k pains to have a - 



: 3n of broods, so that th -. ' 

 chance for a certain process of acclimati- 

 zation of the species and also for effe; . 

 cross-fertilization to take place. It 

 the purpose of Mr. Trouvelot who did this 

 work, to keep the introduced insects in 

 confinement and to interbreed them with 

 various na: - :ies of moths with the 

 expectation of producing a hybrid which 

 would feed on the leaves of our numerous 

 American species of oak and produ ; 

 valuable kind of silk. A -torm broke up 

 and scattered his cages and their tenar:- - 

 that his experiment was abandoned. 

 Trouvelot thought that thi- ent had 



- . oved all his he died with- 



out knowing that his well-meant endeavor 

 - to bring a serio;: - . upon this 

 country. 



For seve: - fter the Maiden in- 



. the r the 



Gypsy Moth was not remarked, 

 denly the creature began to appear in in- 



credible numh that in two or three 



successive seasons it had multiplied at a 

 rate probablv greater than has ever been 

 observed in any other species of moth, and 

 hardlv surpassed bv that of the African 

 locusts. All the vegetation on many hun- 

 dred- of tilled land w. ^ped 

 of its leav . - - also considerable 

 area - E forest The starving hosts of 

 caterpii forced to march to fresh 

 T/.ev invaded homes and so 

 covered the sidewalks of the villages that 

 thei: . -h-ed bodies made the footing 

 slippery. At this stage in the history of 

 the : n the creature was first recog- 

 nized as the <_- :a. In the p- 



- : - - oposed to be some n 

 - which had temporarily mere, 



- the habit of certain for - sud- 

 denlv become numerous and then 

 denly disappear. When it i-:nown 

 that the m : - iropean in- 



- had become firr. bUshed in 

 country and w . - . ~ more vigor 



.an in any part of the old 

 the people _ - : sc - : :;on. 



A? the - had ahead v spreac 



eral to s it s evident 1 

 authorities could be trusted to sup 

 Therefore the Commonwealth 

 to appoint a commission 

 unc. : 3m- 



- -ion at first appc 

 sum supplied for the 

 adequate; so thr.: more 



st before an eft\ ^ _ -be- 



