2 BULLETIN 170, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



Some idea of the extent and permanent character of the injury 

 which this insect is capable of inflicting may be gained from the 

 illustration (PL I) of a European pine forest which has been infested 

 by it for several years in succession, with the result that a majority 

 of the tree trunks are so twisted and crooked that their value as tim- 

 ber is materially lessened. 



HISTORY OF THE SPECIES IN EUROPE. 



The species is a constant menace to pine forests in Europe and an- 

 nually causes serious depredations, especially to young plantations 

 of pine, in spite of continual preventive work against it. It has been 

 the subject of much study and of an extensive literature from the 

 time it was first described by Schiffermiller in 1776 to the present 

 day. The species was named in honor of a Vienna entomologist, 

 Baron Buol, who studied its injurious work during the latter part of 

 the eighteenth century ; since then numerous accounts have appeared 

 of particularly severe outbreaks in many parts of Europe, from 

 'England to Russia, and from Scandinavia to southern France. It 

 also occurs in Siberia. 



One such outbreak in Denmark, in 1805-1807, is recorded by Nie- 

 mann (1809). 1 This was so serious as nearly to cause pine culture to 

 be abandoned in that country as hopeless. It is interesting to note 

 that at that time the same preventive means were resorted to as are 

 now employed against the insect, namely, the wholesale pruning and 

 burning of all infested twigs. 



The German forest entomologist, Ratzeburg, counted Evetria 

 buoliana one of the most injurious forest insects and gave a detailed 

 account (1840) of the life history, structure, and economic impor- 

 tance of the species. He mentioned especially an unusual outbreak in 

 1836-1838, which covered many parts of Europe. In the province of 

 Furstenau the Rochesberg Mountain, which was covered with pines, 

 became so seriously infested that it was under consideration by the 

 authorities to burn it off and plant new trees. Other localities were 

 only saved by strenuous systematic collecting of the infested twigs; 

 thus, in the small province of Kesternich alone, 150,000 larvae were 

 gathered and destroyed. 



Judeich and Nitsche (1895) state that the injury caused by Evetria 

 buoliana is often fatal to the pine plantations. To quote from these 

 authors, " If the attack is slight, it results in the branching of the 

 tree, but if the attack is more severe and continued for several years, 

 as we have seen it, then hardly any bud is spared and the pines 

 become stunted into miserable small bushes from which numerous 



r 



1 Dates in parentheses refer to " Literature," pp. 10-11. 



