374 A Practical Hand Book 



This insect is a very serious pest for several reasons. It feeds in 

 the caterpillar stage on a very large number of trees, shrubs and 

 other plants, and is most voracious. It increases rapidly in num- 

 bers and is very resistant to stomach poisons used as sprays. On 

 the other hand, the female moth is so heavy it cannot fly, so that 

 the insect spreads mainly by the caterpillars' crawling, and by 

 the caterpillars' or moths' being carried to new places by vehicles 

 they may get onto. 



The best methods for the destruction of this pest are by destroy- 

 ing the egg clusters during the fall or winter by soaking them with 

 creosote oil mixed with a little turpentine and coal tar. This can 

 be done by using a swab soaked in the mixture and fastened to the 

 end of a pole, pressing the wet swab against the egg clusters. The 

 caterpillars feed mainly at night and hide from the light to a con- 

 siderable extent in the daytime, hence loose burlap bands around 

 tree trunks will draw many there for concealment, and they can 

 then be easily destroyed. In some cases, spraying heavily with a 

 strong stomach poison, particularly when the caterpillars are 

 young, is quite effective. At present, all hope of a general control 

 of this insect rests in the success of parasitic enemies imported 

 from the native home of this insect, an experiment now being con- 

 ducted by the United States Department of Agriculture and the 

 State of Massachusetts, in co-operation. 



The Brown-tail Moth. 



The brown-tail moth was accidentally brought to Massachu- 

 setts about 1890, and since that time has spread from near Boston, 

 where it was first observed, to Maine and Nova Scotia on the 

 northeast, central New Hampshire on the north, the Connecticut 

 River on the west, and to northeastern Connecticut on the south. 

 It has also been found in other parts of the country on im- 

 ported plants, but so far as known, these cases have all been im- 

 mediately discovered and the insects destroyed. Colonies which 

 originated in this way are likely to be discovered at any time, how- 

 ever, and in any case a general distribution of the pest over at 

 least the eastern United States is almost certain to occur sooner 

 or later. 



