BROWN-TAIL MOTH AND OTHER ORCHARD MOTHS. 1 57 



brittle and where the caterpillars are numerous few people are 

 likely to escape, as the caterpillars drop from the branches and 

 creep about, even entering houses. Direct contact with the 

 insects themselves is not necessary, however, for when the cater- 

 pillars shed their skins, the molts are blown about widely 

 scattering the barbed hairs. Thus in infested districts it is no 

 uncommon occurrence for whole families to suffer from the rash 

 caused by the hairs which settle upon clothes hung out to dry. 

 Children gathering cherries are badly "poisoned," and near 

 Everett, Mass., people have been obliged to leave their homes 

 for uninfested places in order to recover from attacks of the 

 "caterpillar itch." 



"So severe is this affection that in many cases people have 

 been made seriously ill by it. The best remedy for it is the 

 liberal use of cooling lotions, or, what is more satisfactory, even 

 if less pleasant, the free use of common vaseline." * 



The cocoon. The caterpillars are usually full grown in June. 

 They then spin loose cocoons, attached commonly to leaves, 

 though sometimes other shelter is sought. Within these they 

 transform to brown pupse about three-fourths of an inch long. 

 From the first to the twentieth of July the moths with pure white 

 wings and brown-tipped abdomens emerge from these cocoons 

 to deposit eggs for the next generation of troublesome cater- 

 pillars. 



Manner of Distribution. 



New localities may become infested in various ways. When 

 startled, the caterpillars have a habit of letting themselves down 

 from the branch and hanging by a frail silken thread. They 

 may so swing against the clothing of a person, or drop upon a 

 passing car or wagon and be carried long distanceSi 



Egg laden moths may be attracted to the lights in trains and 

 electric cars and be borne into uninfested localities before they 

 flutter off to deposit their eggs. In New Hampshire the new 

 localities were generally found along the lines of cars coming 

 from badly infested regions. f 



* Mass. Crop Report, Vol. 17, No. 3, p. 39. 

 tN. H. College Agr. Exp. Sta. Bui. 107, p. 59. 



