INSECTS 193 



The moth. The peculiar zigzag flight of the male moth has 

 already been noted. The large, white, conspicuous female moths 

 sit or crawl on tree trunks, etc., near their pupa cases. It is usu- 

 ally the latter half of July and through August that the females 

 lay their eggs. 



Gypsy-moth remedies. Egg killing. With the gypsy moth no 

 single method of destruction is more effective than killing the 

 eggs. The egg masses wherever accessible can be killed from 

 August to May by soaking them thoroughly with creosote mixture, 

 which may be applied with a small swab or paintbrush. 



Caterpillar destruction. Spraying infested foliage with arsenate 

 of lead at the rate of 10 pounds to 100 gallons of water, thoroughly 

 mixed, is very effective when the caterpillars are small. For use 

 on trees, a pump mounted on a barrel tank or hogshead is desira- 

 ble. The mixture should be applied, if possible, on a clear, dry 

 day, beginning at the top of the trees, and in such a manner as 

 to cover the leaves, rather slowly, with a fine mist. The foliage 

 should never be drenched with a stream ; when the leaves begin 

 to drip, spraying should at once cease. The work is most effective 

 when clone during May and early June. 



If a strip of burlap or other coarse cheap cloth is tied about the 

 middle of an infested tree trunk so that the flaps hang down, the 

 caterpillars, as soon as they have acquired the night-feeding habit, 

 will gather under the cloth and may then be destroyed by crushing 

 or by cutting with a sheath knife. The burlaps should be examined 

 daily, or, if the caterpillars are in great numbers, several times a 

 day. Burlap can be successfully employed from the latter half of 

 May to the first or middle of August, for the caterpillars will ordi- 

 narily pupate under burlap, and the winged moths lay many eggs 

 under it. It should be borne in mind that the cloth band is in no 

 sense a tree protector. Serving as a hiding place for various in- 

 sects, it is better off the tree than on unless it can be attended to 

 and kept clean. At the end of the caterpillar season all burlaps 

 should be removed and burned. 



Banding a noninfested tree with insect lime or other sticky sub- 

 stance to keep off the caterpillars can be made an effective means 

 of protection if the branches of the tree do not interlock with those 

 of an infested tree, and if the two do not stand so near together 



