122 PROTECTION OF WOODLANDS. 



else by entrapping them, as in the case of the large rostral beetle 

 (Hylobius abietis), in specially constructed ditches, and then killing 

 them by treading on them, or pouring boiling-water over them. 



(b.) Moths 1 (Lepidoptera). 



Annihilative and exterminative measures against moths must 

 chiefly be adopted during the prolonged larval stage as caterpillars, 

 although in not a few cases something may at the same time be 

 done towards their destruction during the pupal stage of rest, and 

 to a slighter extent even whilst they are ova or imagines. 



The caterpillars may sometimes be collected merely with the 

 hand, 2 as in the case of those hibernating on the ground under 

 moss, those brought to the ground by shaking the poles or knock- 

 ing on the branches with the heavy flat head of an axe, or those 

 caught in ditches; they are then thrown into wooden troughs, 

 whose sides are smeared with fat so as to present the caterpillars 

 crawling out again. Or again they may be crushed to death when 

 clustered together in groups, like young schools of the newly 

 developed caterpillars of the Spruce moth (Liparis monacha), or 

 by burning or crushing the so-called nests of caterpillars of the 

 Lackey moth (Gastropacha neustria), and the cocoon-like clusters 

 of the caterpillars of the Processionary moth (Cnethocampa proces- 

 sioned). 



By shaking the crowns through tapping on the stems with 

 wooden mallets, or with the flat head of an axe, a method of 

 course only applicable in pole-forests, the caterpillars of the Pine 

 Owlet moth (Trachea piniperda), and the Pine Span-worm (Fidonia 

 piniaria), may be brought to the ground for collection : two or 

 three smart taps should be given with the axe or mallet, and the 

 operation is all the more successful if carried out early in the 

 morning or during cool weather, as the caterpillars do not then 

 take such good hold on the foliage as during warm sunny days. 

 In order to avoid injury to the stem, the mallet or axe-head should 

 be padded, or care should be taken to select the snags of old 



1 Practically, true day-butterflies (Papilionidw) are almost innocuous to woodlands, 

 injurious qualities being bestowed on the families generally known as moths, and 

 comprising Sphynges, Spinners, Spanners or Loopers, Leaf-rollers, &c. Trans. 



3 Where hairy caterpillars are to be thus gathered, the collectors must be provided 

 with old gloves or other protection for the hands, as the hairs of many species are 

 poisonous and very irritant. Trans. 



