94 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 



piles may easily produce thousands of the beetles and, when abund- 

 ant, the pests may attack comparatively vigorous trees. 



Apple tent caterpillar ( M a 1 a c o s o m a a m e r i c a n a 

 Fabr.). Numerous complaints were received of the excessive 

 abundance of this common pest upon wild and chokecherry trees 

 in particular, though its conspicuous nests were rather abundant 

 in apple trees here and there. This condition was reported from 

 Long Island localities and various places in the Hudson valley, 

 from Utica, Herkimer and Rome in the central part of the State, 

 and from such Adirondack localities as Glens Falls. Lake George, 

 Ausable Forks, ^lalone, and Ogdensburg. The pests were so 

 numerous in southern Rensselaer county as to defoliate most of 

 the roadside Avild cherry trees and many of the unsprayed apple 

 trees, not excepting in some instances almost entire orchards. The 

 caterpillars were so abundant that they would frequently strip 

 adjacent vegetation before attaining maturity. In some instances 

 ropes of silk leading to the nests were to be observed on the 

 trunks of the trees. The injury was so great in some places that 

 parties feared it would be followed by the death of the trees. 

 This is far from the case Avith both wild cherry and apple, as was 

 evidenced by the development of a good second crop of leaves 

 subsequently. 



The caterpillars complete their growth the latter part of ]\Iay 

 or early in June, deserting the trees and spinning the familiar 

 whitish cocoon in almost any available shelter. The moths fly 

 from about the middle of June till the middle of July and deposit 

 their dark brown tgg belts on the smaller twigs. The eggs usually 

 remain unhatched until the following spring. An examination of 

 local conditions at Nassau shows that there are an unusually large 

 number of eggs upon the trees at the present time, and as a conse- 

 quence serious injury is probable another season. This caterpillar 

 is easily distinguished from the related forest tent caterpillar by 

 the broad, white stripe down the middle of the back and the large, 

 silken webs -invariably constructed in the forks of the trees. The 

 outbreak described above is one of the irregularly periodic oscilla- 

 tions of insect life and may continue for another year or two. 



The ravages of this pest are greatl}- facilitated by farmers gen- 

 erally allowing wild cherry trees to grow along roadsides and 

 fences. The keeping of the brush cut in all such places would not 

 only relieve the adjacent land of an unnecessary drain but prove 

 an important factor in controlling this common pest. It is perhaps 



