﻿REPORT 
  OF 
  THE 
  STATE 
  ENTOMOLOGIST 
  I9OO 
  959 
  

  

  trees 
  and, 
  when 
  hard 
  pushed, 
  they 
  can 
  subsist 
  for 
  a 
  time, 
  at 
  least, 
  on 
  

   a 
  number 
  of 
  herbaceous 
  plants. 
  The 
  common 
  fruit 
  trees, 
  the 
  elms, 
  

   maples 
  and 
  oaks 
  are 
  all 
  eaten 
  most 
  readily, 
  and, 
  even 
  were 
  the 
  list 
  no 
  

   greater, 
  the 
  pest 
  would 
  be 
  a 
  most 
  serious 
  one 
  to 
  combat. 
  It 
  feeds 
  on 
  

   many 
  other 
  plants, 
  as 
  the 
  list 
  of 
  536, 
  given 
  in 
  the 
  exhaustive 
  report 
  on 
  

   this 
  insect 
  in 
  1896, 
  attests. 
  It 
  is 
  very 
  true 
  that 
  the 
  caterpillar 
  feeds 
  on 
  

   some 
  of 
  these 
  only 
  when 
  compelled 
  by 
  starvation, 
  and 
  that 
  it 
  can 
  not 
  be 
  

   considered 
  an 
  enemy 
  of 
  a 
  number 
  of 
  others, 
  but, 
  even 
  after 
  making 
  

   most 
  liberal 
  allowance 
  for 
  these, 
  the 
  list 
  is 
  still 
  a 
  very 
  formidable 
  one. 
  

  

  Destructiveness. 
  Countless 
  instances 
  of 
  serious 
  injury 
  by 
  this 
  pest 
  

   could 
  be 
  given, 
  even 
  if 
  we 
  did 
  not 
  go 
  outside 
  of 
  America. 
  It 
  is 
  well 
  

   known 
  as 
  a 
  grievous 
  pest 
  in 
  many 
  parts 
  of 
  Europe, 
  and 
  its 
  operations 
  in 
  

   this 
  country, 
  when 
  unhindered 
  by 
  man, 
  have 
  been 
  appalling. 
  Personal 
  

   observation 
  of 
  the 
  infested 
  areas 
  in 
  1891 
  and 
  later 
  years 
  leads 
  me 
  to 
  

   consider 
  it 
  a 
  much 
  worse 
  insect 
  enemy 
  than 
  the 
  forest 
  tent-caterpillar. 
  

   It 
  defohates 
  forest 
  and 
  other 
  trees 
  just 
  as 
  completely 
  as 
  Clisiocampa 
  

   dis 
  stria, 
  and 
  a 
  series 
  of 
  such 
  disturbances 
  of 
  nature 
  may 
  be 
  expected 
  

   when 
  the 
  insect 
  becomes 
  well 
  estabhshed 
  in 
  New 
  York 
  state. 
  

  

  It 
  may 
  be 
  very 
  appropriate 
  to 
  refer, 
  in 
  this 
  connection, 
  to 
  a 
  brief 
  

   article^, 
  " 
  On 
  the 
  possible 
  effects 
  of 
  the 
  gipsy 
  moth 
  on 
  American 
  forests," 
  

   by 
  Prof. 
  N. 
  S. 
  Shaler, 
  of 
  Harvard 
  university, 
  whose 
  opinion 
  should 
  be 
  

   given 
  great 
  weight 
  on 
  account 
  of 
  his 
  intimate 
  knowledge 
  of 
  the 
  con- 
  

   ditions. 
  A 
  brief 
  consideration 
  of 
  the 
  habits 
  of 
  the 
  insect 
  and 
  its 
  effects 
  

   on 
  forest 
  trees 
  is 
  supported 
  by 
  the 
  following 
  striking 
  paragraph 
  : 
  

  

  For 
  a 
  year 
  the 
  secondary 
  buds 
  of 
  most 
  trees, 
  buds 
  that 
  put 
  forth 
  after 
  

   the 
  crop 
  of 
  caterpillars 
  has 
  matured, 
  serve 
  to 
  maintain 
  the 
  hfe 
  of 
  the 
  

   forest, 
  but 
  the 
  plants 
  are 
  rapidly 
  weakened 
  by 
  the 
  tax, 
  and 
  perish 
  after 
  

   two 
  or 
  three 
  seasons 
  of 
  the 
  infliction. 
  It 
  appears 
  likely 
  that 
  in 
  five 
  years 
  

   none 
  of 
  the 
  arboreal 
  forces 
  would 
  survive. 
  Therefore 
  we 
  may 
  assume 
  

   that, 
  if 
  the 
  gipsy 
  moth 
  becomes 
  firmly 
  implanted 
  in 
  our 
  forests, 
  these 
  

   forests 
  are 
  in 
  large 
  measure 
  likely 
  to 
  disappear. 
  The 
  processes 
  will 
  

   probably 
  be 
  slow, 
  for 
  the 
  rate 
  of 
  dissemination 
  of 
  the 
  insect 
  is 
  not 
  great, 
  

   yet 
  the 
  moths 
  if 
  plentiful 
  will 
  invade 
  railway 
  cars 
  and 
  other 
  vehicles, 
  so 
  

   that 
  the 
  new 
  colony 
  may 
  be 
  planted 
  at 
  a 
  distance 
  of 
  hundreds 
  of 
  miles 
  

   from 
  the 
  fields 
  where 
  the 
  species 
  have 
  become 
  abundant. 
  

  

  The 
  concluding 
  paragraph 
  is 
  equally 
  emphatic. 
  

  

  What 
  has 
  been 
  said 
  above 
  may 
  make 
  it 
  plain 
  to 
  the 
  reader 
  that, 
  if 
  the 
  

   gipsy 
  moth 
  is 
  allowed 
  freely 
  to 
  extend 
  itself 
  in 
  this 
  country, 
  the 
  conse- 
  

   quences 
  are 
  likely 
  to 
  become 
  most 
  serious. 
  They 
  may 
  indeed 
  attain 
  to 
  

   the 
  hight 
  of 
  a 
  calamity. 
  It 
  is 
  possible 
  that 
  effective 
  enemies 
  of 
  this 
  

   species 
  may 
  be 
  developed 
  in 
  course 
  of 
  time, 
  but 
  the 
  past 
  20 
  years 
  has 
  

   failed 
  to 
  show 
  any 
  such. 
  It 
  is 
  possible 
  that 
  some 
  change 
  of 
  climate 
  may 
  

  

  1 
  Forester, 
  Sep. 
  19U0, 
  6 
  : 
  206. 
  

  

  