Oct., igi6 Bulletin of the Brooklyn Entomological Society 85 



THE PRESENT STATUS OF THE CANKER WORMS 

 ALSOPHILA POMETARIA AND PALEACRITA 

 VERNATA IN BROOKLYN. 



By Geo. P. Engelhardt, Brooklyn, N, Y. 



Brooklynites with recollection reaching back to the sixties may 

 recall the annual defoliation of their shade trees together with the 

 annoyance to pedestrians in brushing against innumerable small 

 "worms" suspended by delicate silken threads from branches 

 and twigs. This injury and annoyance were caused by the 

 so-called "canker worms." Readers of the Bulletin, Vol. 

 IX, No. 3, June, 1914, on the "Early History of Brooklyn 

 Entomology," by E. L. Graef, will recall especially the meas- 

 ures taken against these pests, including the introduction into 

 this country of the Enghsh sparrow. Since then so much has 

 been charged against this hyphenated alien that to his credit 

 it should be said that, in the performance of his allotted task at 

 least, he has done nobly. In Brooklyn today it is not a problem 

 how to combat the canker worm, but rather how shall the collector 

 find specimens sufficient for his cabinet. This at least has been 

 my own experience for ten years or more. I have yet to see a 

 really good series of these moths in any of the local collections. 



The males of Alsophila pometaria the so-called " Fall Canker- 

 Worm " can usually be readily distinguished by wing maculation 

 alone, but a better character (especially for the apterous females) 

 is the rows of strong spines on the abdominal segments of P. 

 vernata, while the body of A. pometaria is densely covered with 

 shingle like scales. 



A. ^pometaria, known as the fall canker worm, as implied, 

 should occur in the fall ; yet in my own collection 2 males and 10 

 females all represent spring captures (with few exceptions from 

 Prospect Park). My representation of the Spring canker worm, 

 P. vernata, on the other hand, shows a preponderance of males, 

 about 20 against 3 females, all from Prospect Park. The males 

 of this species are by far the commonest of the early spring moths 

 of the region, but until this year I failed to secure any females. 



