REPORT OF STATE ENTOMOLOGIST, 1898 193 



but it is believed that in every case the evidence justified the identifica- 

 tion. In all the localities mentioned above, a number of trees were 

 defoliated, usually oaks and maples, and in most of these the injured 

 tracts could be estimated by acres, in some cases by hundreds of acres. 

 There is certainly ample evidence to justify the conclusion that the forest 

 tent caterpillar has caused a large amount of damage in New York state 

 last year and this, and that the present season the ravages have been 

 more general than in 1897, though in the former year they may have 

 been more severe in certain localities. 



Extensive depredations in other localities. This insect has 

 been extremely injurious in a number of 'other states, in some instances 

 defoliating hundreds of square miles. One of the earliest accounts is the 

 record of Abbot, whom Dr Riley quotes, stating that it ' is sometimes so 

 plentiful in Virginia as to strip the oak-trees bare.' In his 3d report (see 

 citation), Dr Riley credits this species with completely stripping the 

 ' over-cup timber ' on the overflow bottoms near Des Arc, Ark,, and 

 records extensive injuries by it in many parts of Missouri. In the 8th 

 Report on the insects of Missouri^ it is stated that this species stripped oak 

 forests over hundreds of square miles in the southern states, and that in 

 the vicinity of Memphis, in 1862, the larvae were so abundant as to 

 frequently stop trains going in and out of the city. In 1889 another 

 instance of trains being stopped was brought to the notice of the Divi- 

 sion of entomology, U. S. Department of agriculture (^Insect life. 1889. 

 2:58). This time the trouble was in Maine and was accompanied by 

 serious injury to forests and orchards. Two years later trains were 

 stopped on the Carolina central railroad near Lumberton {^Insect life. 

 1891. 3 : 477). This hindrance to travel was accompanied by the defolia- 

 tion of many trees over a large area. This species was excessively 

 injurious in the vicinity of London, Ont., in 1877, as recorded by 

 WiUiam Saunders in the following words : ' There were millions upon 

 millions of them, and so enormous were their numbers and so persistent 

 their attacks, that after fighting them bravely for a week or two, many 

 gave up the contest in despair, weary of the slaughter. Many an orchard 

 was rendered bare and leafless and in some instances the woods were so 

 void of foliage as to remind one of winter.' In southern Illinois this 

 insect ' made a frightful inroad upon the apple orchard, absolutely defolia- 

 ting every tree in large districts in 1883 ' (Forbes, see citation). 



Last year the caterpillars committed very extensive ravages along the 

 Ottawa river, stripping the aspen groves of every leaf and seriously 

 \Xi]\xxvs\^'oi\\ti \itts (^Oitaiua naturalist. 1898. 12:13). 



