206 PROTECTION OF WOODLANDS. 



practical method seems to be the formation of narrow rings of 

 patent tar round the stems at about 12 feet in height, as the tar will 

 bite on well to the smooth bark, and will prevent the great majority 

 of caterpillars from ever ascending to feed on the tree-foliage, 

 whilst it will also hinder the caterpillars, from ova deposited above 

 that, being able to descend when following their natural instinct 

 towards chrysalisation on the soil. 



101. Other Spinners (Brown- Tail, Lackey, and Gipsy Moths) 

 Bombycidce. 



Although these three species of moths are for the most part 

 injurious to fruit-trees, yet they often occur in great numbers on 

 woodland trees, more especially on Oak, and are therefore deser- 

 ving of some short mention here. 



The Brown- Tail Moth, Bomlyx (Liparis, Porthesia) chrysorrhcea. 

 This is a white moth with satin-like lustre, having a span of 

 1*2 to 1*6 inches. The abdomen of the female is for the most part 

 brownish, but with a dense reddish-brown tuft of woolly growth 

 near the termination of the abdomen, whilst the male is of a 

 blackish-brown colour with ruddy-brown tail or fringe of hairs 

 behind. The 16-footed caterpillar is about 1*4 inches long, and 

 of a dark greyish-brown colour, with red stripes along the sides, 

 and covered with yellowish-brown hairs ; underneath it is of a 

 grey colour, with yellow marbling. 



The moths swarm at the end of June and the beginning 

 July, when the female lays her 200 to 300 brownish-yellow eggs 

 the lower side of the leaves of many broad-leaved species of 

 but chiefly on Oak, and covers them up with spongy emissi( 

 The caterpillars make their appearance in August, and form n< 

 for themselves round the leaves and young shoots. In autui 

 with a view to the coming period of hibernation, they strength* 

 them, and thus form very tough nests of about the size of a fii 

 In the following spring they again attack the foliage, and the 

 about the beginning of June enter the pupal state of rest fc 

 about three to four weeks in a transparent greyish-brown nest. 

 Their generation is therefore annual. 



In orchards the winter nests can easily be destroyed, but this 

 is not practicable when the crowns of lofty Oaks or other forest 

 trees are attacked. 



