48 



THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE 



Federal Horticultural Board, which has 

 provided an absolute quarantine of the 

 rest of the country against the region in- 

 habited by the gipsy-moth and the brown- 

 tail moth. 



MlSTHODS OF TRAVElv 



This means that no plants from the 

 nurseries of this region, no Christmas 

 trees, and no plant products, such as rail- 

 road ties, cord-wood, telephone poles, and 

 no objects of any kind upon which the 

 egg-masses of the gipsy-moth might be 

 laid or upon which the winter nests of 

 the brown-tail moth might occur, can 

 leave the territory without a certificate 

 of inspection which certifies that they are 

 free from these insects. 



This, of course, means a great deal of 

 work. The gipsy-moth passes the winter 

 in the egg stage, in clumps of eggs num- 

 bering from 300 to 500, and these clumps 

 are attached to all sorts of objects. Take, 

 for example, the pile of boards shown 

 on page 41. These boards are sawn and 

 piled, and yet moths from the adjoining 

 trees have laid their eggs all over them. 

 This lumber being shipped out of the dis- 

 trict would carry potential damage wher- 

 ever it might go. 



Let us suppose that an apple tree con- 

 taining gipsy-moths were situated at the 

 edge of a strawberry patch. The straw- 

 berries are picked, and then are often 

 boxed under the shade of the tree, with 

 the result that the crates in which they 

 are placed may carry the eggs of the 

 gipsy-moth. 



The brown-tail moth, on the other 

 hand, passes the winter in silken nests in 

 which leaves are usually enfolded, sev- 

 eral hundreds of the young caterpihars 

 being found in each nest. These nests 

 are usually attached to the terminal twigs 

 of trees, but are often found upon nur- 

 sery stock; in fact, during 1909 many 

 hundreds of these webs were brought in 

 from France attached to imported nur- 

 sery stock. 



The female of the brown-tail moth, 

 unlike that of the gipsy-moth, is a strong 

 flyer, and spreads directly by flight more 

 rapidly than it is as a rule carried in its 

 winter nests. It happens in New Eng- 

 land during June that on some nights the 



brown-tail moth flies in such extraordi- 

 nary numbers that of a morning the sides 

 of buildings and electric-light poles ap- 

 pear almost white (see page 40). 



They are attracted to light to a con- 

 siderable extent, frequently enter houses 

 and, what is worse, trolley cars and rail- 

 way cars, and in the latter are apt to be 

 carried for much greater distances than 

 they could possibly fly. In the same way 

 along the seacoast they will fly upon ves- 

 sels just starting away, and so may be 

 carried along the coast for very consid- 

 erable distances. 



Just as this is being written the news 

 comes that the brown-tail moth has been 

 found during the past winter, probably 

 as a result of last summer's flight, to have 

 obtained foothold on Fishers Island, near 

 the Connecticut mainland; at Orient 

 Point, Long Island; at three points on 

 Shelter Island, and still farther south, on 

 the southern of the two eastern prolonga- 

 tions of Long Island, at six points be- 

 tween Sag Harbor and East Hampton. 

 These points are all in New York terri- 

 tory, and the authorities of that State 

 are fully alive to the danger, so that 

 vigorous efl^orts are being made to ex- 

 terminate these incipient colonies. 



The brown-tail moth fortunately is not 

 a very difficult pest to control. It is 

 handled by late spring and early fall 

 spraying with arsenicals, but more readily 

 on low-growing trees and shrubs by cut- 

 ting off and burning the characteristic 

 winter nests, which are very conspicuous 

 in the autumn after the leaves fall, 



BROWN-TAIL RASH 



In coming into Long Island territory 

 the principal money loss which the 

 brown-tail will cause is not by the de- 

 struction of foliage, but by the prevalence 

 of what has come to be known as the 

 "brown-tail rash," which keeps people 

 away from summer resorts where this 

 insect is prevalent. The hairs of the 

 brown-tail caterpillar are finely barbed 

 and brittle (see page 52), and where the 

 caterpillars come in contact with the hu- 

 man skin these hairs enter the skin pores, 

 break off, and cause a severe irritation. 



Indeed, it is not necessary for the cat- 

 erpillar to come in contact with the skin ; 



