REPORT OF THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST I914 25 



amount of food available. There is nothing to show that the white 

 grubs migrate to any great extent, more than a rod or two, through 

 the soil. Susceptible crops, if they must be put on infested soil, 

 should be fed liberally and cultivated thoroughly in order to assist 

 the plants to withstand the injury. Strawberry plants set on in- 

 fested land are liable to be destroyed unless the grubs are systematic- 

 ally dug out and killed. This, unless the infestation is very severe, 

 is practical though somewhat costly. 



FOREST TENT CATERPILLAR 



Malacosoma dis stria Hiibn. 



t 

 The season of 19 14 was marked by an extension of the forest ten 



caterpillar ravages of recent years. Specimens or complaints were 



received from a number of Nassau county localities, from Delaware 



and Chenango counties and from areas in Saratoga, Washington, 



Warren, Essex, Clinton and St Lawrence counties, in particular. 



These pests confine themselves on Long Island mostly to oaks, 

 while farther north sugar maples, and in the Adirondacks poplars 

 were largely defoliated, extensive areas in St Lawrence, Essex and 

 Warren counties suffering severely. This is the third successive 

 season during which these pests have been destructive in the State. 

 The probabilities favor less injury another year, since serious out- 

 breaks of this character are generally limited by the activity of vari- 

 ous natural agents within three or four years. It is possible to 

 forecast fairly accurately the relative abundance of this pest by 

 examining the smaller twigs of favored food trees for the rather short, 

 square-cut, light-brown egg belts. The occurrence of any number 

 of eggs is an almost unfailing indication of serious injury next season. 



Early history. This insect is a well-known forest and shade tree 

 pest on account of its irregularly periodic outbreaks. Extensive 

 injuries were recorded for western New York in 1857, and ten years 

 later it was reported as having been troublesome in that section for 

 a period of twelve years or more. A minor outbreak occurred in 

 Washington county in 1889, and from 1897 to 1900 there were ex- 

 tensive defoliations in widely separated localities — the damage 

 probably being considerably greater than in the present 19 12-14 

 outbreak. 



The pest has been active in other sections, both of the last -men- 

 tioned caterpillar outbreaks manifesting themselves in adjacent 

 territory east and north of New York. The Central and Southern 

 States have suffered severely in earlier years, extensive areas of oaks 

 in Missouri, Tennesee and other states being defoliated. 



