36 MAINE AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION. I9OO. 



if so, their habits are different from what I supposed. Some 

 would like to dig for a ton of honey, but we shall not have them 

 disturbed until we hear from you." Mr. Grace confirms the 

 above account. The specimens sent were land bees and were 

 accompanied by cells filled with bee bread, the pollen of plants, 

 probably stored as food for the young bees. The larrids usually 

 store their burrows with grasshoppers and related insects and 

 are beneficial. The bee bread in this case had the smell of old 

 cheese. There are fully fifty species of these sand bees in the 

 United States and Canada, found mostly in the southwest. 

 They do not make honey. 



THE BROWN TAIL MOTH. (Euproctis chrysorrhcca) . 

 F. L. Harvey. 



Specimens of the brown tail moth were taken the past season 

 on Cut's Island, Kittery Point, Maine, by Mr. Charles Elliott 

 Thaxter. He thinks they were imported from Cambridge, 

 Mass., in household goods and that they have been on the island 

 for two years and are probably established. This insect was 

 reported from South Berwick, Maine, in 1897, but we were in 

 doubt as we did not see specimens. (See Experiment Station 

 Reports, 1897, p. 175 and 1898, p. 126). Mr. Thaxter kindly sent 

 us a specimen taken by him as stated above. This dangerous insect 

 enemy of the pear and many other trees, herbs and shrubs has 

 to be added to our long list of insect pests. 



Distribution and History. The brown tail moth is a native 

 of the eastern continent, occurring in Europe, Northern Africa 

 and Asia Minor. In the United States it was first called to the 

 attention of the Gypsy Moth Commission of Massachusetts in 

 May, 1897, at Somerville, Mass. Investigation showed that it 

 had been in that region for at least three years. How it was 

 introduced is not known. The first knowledge the Experiment 

 Station had of its appearance in Maine was the following letter 

 from Mr. Sessions of the Gipsy Moth Commission of Massa- 

 chusetts : 



"We are now making an inspection of the territory infested 

 with our new imported pest, the brown tail moth {Euproctis 

 chryssorrhoea) . Our inspector in discharge of his duty called on 

 Dr. Geo. E. Osgood of No. 283 Highland Avenue, Somerville. 



