ENEMIES. 17 



In the vicinity of Ahlers (now Push), Oreg., 1 found a vast amount of dead Spruce 

 and Hemlock. The trees had been dead eight or nine years, and hence it was not 

 possible to personally investigate the cause of the trouble. I was particularly fortu- 

 nate, however, in obtaining from the postmaster, Mr. Herman Ahlers, a most inter- 

 esting account of the beginning and ending of the trouble as observed by him at the 

 time. (Page 10.) The work of this insect has not, I believe, been previously 

 recorded. 



Mr. Ahlers says: "The worms commenced to attract a little attention here in 1889. 

 A few moths were seen in the fall of the same year. In July, 1890, the worms 

 appeared in great numbers, the first on the Hemlock, feeding on the base of the 

 leaves and cutting them off. When standing beneath the trees the droppings from 

 the insects and the falling leaves sounded like rain. When all of the leaves were 

 eaten from the trees the worms would let themselves down by means of webs, and 

 if they were not full grown would feed on the leaves of all kinds of shrubs and trees, 

 except the Douglas Spruce and Cedar. The worms were observed during July and 

 August and disappeared in the latter month, probably going into the ground to 

 pupate. In October the moths began to come out. They were grayish white with 

 dark markings on the wings. The wings spread about li inches. The moths would 

 appear on the wing about 3 o'clock in the afternoon in enormous swarms around the 

 tops of the trees, resembling a white cloud. They continued to fly for about three 

 weeks, at the end of Avhich time the ground was covered with the dead insects, and 

 the small streams were filled with them, in some places forming dams. The next 

 year, 1891, they attacked the Sitka Spruce and defoliated the trees, which died the 

 following fall or winter. * * * When the worms were coming down from the 

 trees the webs made the trees look as if they were covered with a grayish veil. The 

 worms were about Ij inches long, the sides grayish green, with darker gray zigzag 

 markings on the back. When traveling they measured their way. This trouble 

 extended over parts of Clatsop and Tillamook counties, killing all the Hemlock and 

 Sitka Spruce in a belt between elevations of about 450 and 1,200 feet above tide. The 

 Douglas Spruce and Ked Cedar were not injured." (Page 18. ) 



At the time of my visit much of the area covered by dead timber had been fre- 

 quently burned over by forest fires, so that in some places nearly all of the dead tim- 

 ber had disappeared, but in other places, where the conditions had not been so 

 favorable for the spread of the fire, the dead, barkless trunks of the trees were still 

 standing, the tops broken and the branches fallen, the scene presenting at once a 

 most impressive example of the destructive powers of an insect enemy of forests and 

 of subsequent devastation by forest fires. 



While the caterpillars, which were primarily to blame for this destruction, have 

 not attracted attention in recent years, they will doubtless make their appearance 

 again in destructive numbers and attack the remaining timber, which is becoming 

 each year more accessible to lumbering operations, and hence rapidly increasing in 

 value. 



On page 17 further reference is made to the Buprestid enemy of the Hemlock, Red 

 Fir, and Xoble Fir: 



"The evidence found in living, dying, and dead Xoble Fir and Hemlock in the 

 Cascade Forest Reserve at Berry, Oreg., and in Hemlock and Red Fir along the 

 Columbia River in the vicinity of St. Helen, indicated that much loss of valuable 

 timber had been due to the work of Buprestid larvte in the living bark of these 

 trees. The conditions at the time were not favorable for a study of this class of 

 enemies or for a special investigation of the damage which seemed to be due to their 

 attacks. It is, however, a subject of special importance, which will demand con- 

 siderable attention in the future. Specimens of larvae collected frorii the bark of 

 living trees were provisionally identified by Mr. Schwarz as belonging to the genus 



22020— No. 33—02 2 



