﻿166 
  REPOKT 
  UNITED 
  STATES 
  ENTOMOLOGICAL 
  COMMISSION. 
  

  

  in 
  'New 
  England, 
  in 
  parts 
  which 
  had 
  been 
  the 
  longest 
  cultivated." 
  Hence, 
  

   we 
  may 
  infer 
  that 
  the 
  Canker 
  Worms, 
  of 
  one 
  species 
  or 
  the 
  other, 
  have 
  

   been 
  a 
  scourge 
  in 
  this 
  country 
  since 
  1740, 
  if 
  not 
  from 
  an 
  earlier 
  date. 
  

  

  Mr. 
  Peck 
  says 
  that 
  " 
  The 
  Canker 
  Worm 
  is 
  said 
  to 
  have 
  been 
  observed 
  

   first 
  in 
  the 
  Southern 
  States, 
  where 
  it 
  is 
  probably 
  a 
  native. 
  It 
  is 
  certain 
  

   it 
  must 
  be 
  spread 
  by 
  some 
  means 
  independent 
  of 
  itself, 
  since 
  the 
  female, 
  

   by 
  the 
  privation 
  of 
  wings, 
  is 
  forbidden 
  to 
  range. 
  It 
  may 
  have 
  been 
  in- 
  

   troduced 
  into 
  New 
  England 
  by 
  the 
  importation 
  of 
  trees 
  from 
  the 
  South- 
  

   ern 
  States, 
  on 
  which 
  the 
  eggs 
  were 
  deposited 
  ; 
  or 
  disseminated 
  in 
  the 
  

   larva 
  state, 
  in 
  all 
  populous 
  parts 
  of 
  the* 
  United 
  States, 
  by 
  falling 
  from 
  

   trees 
  upon 
  carriages 
  and 
  travelers 
  passing 
  under 
  them. 
  This 
  conjecture 
  

   is 
  rendered 
  probable 
  by 
  its 
  being 
  found 
  in 
  all 
  places 
  which 
  have 
  inter- 
  

   course 
  with 
  such 
  parts 
  as 
  are 
  infected 
  with 
  it, 
  and 
  by 
  its 
  being 
  unknown 
  

   in 
  new 
  settlements." 
  But 
  no 
  authority 
  is 
  given 
  for 
  the 
  assertion 
  that 
  

   the 
  insects 
  came 
  from 
  the 
  South, 
  and 
  as 
  they 
  seem 
  never 
  to 
  have 
  oc- 
  

   curred 
  in 
  the 
  region 
  which 
  Peck 
  intended 
  by 
  that 
  word 
  — 
  i. 
  e., 
  the 
  South- 
  

   ern 
  Atlantic 
  States 
  — 
  the 
  assertion 
  must 
  be 
  discredited. 
  Mr. 
  Peck 
  made 
  

   his 
  observations 
  on 
  vernata 
  in 
  Kittery, 
  Me., 
  probably 
  in 
  1793 
  and 
  1791, 
  

   or 
  not 
  long 
  previous 
  to 
  those 
  years, 
  for 
  it 
  was 
  first 
  in 
  1793 
  that 
  a 
  prize 
  

   was 
  offered 
  for 
  the 
  natural 
  history 
  of 
  the 
  Canker 
  Worm, 
  and 
  he 
  states 
  ^^ 
  

   that 
  on 
  the 
  17th 
  of 
  May, 
  1791, 
  the 
  night 
  was 
  so 
  cold 
  as 
  to 
  produce 
  ice' 
  

   one-third 
  of 
  an 
  inch 
  thick 
  ; 
  at 
  that 
  time 
  a 
  great 
  part 
  of 
  the 
  Canker 
  

   Worms 
  were 
  hatched 
  j 
  to 
  these 
  the 
  frost 
  was 
  so 
  fatal, 
  at 
  Kittery, 
  Me., 
  

   where 
  he 
  lived, 
  that 
  very 
  few 
  were 
  seen 
  in 
  1795. 
  He 
  X3aid 
  diligent 
  at- 
  

   tention 
  at 
  the 
  season 
  of 
  their 
  rising, 
  but 
  found 
  not 
  one 
  female, 
  and 
  saw 
  

   but 
  one 
  male 
  by 
  accident, 
  on 
  the 
  6th 
  of 
  April. 
  He 
  says 
  he 
  earnestly 
  

   wishes 
  that 
  this 
  check, 
  seconded 
  by 
  the 
  endeavors 
  of 
  man, 
  may 
  extirpate 
  

   this 
  destructive 
  insect. 
  

  

  Although 
  he 
  refers 
  to 
  the 
  appearance 
  of 
  some 
  images 
  in 
  November, 
  it 
  

   is 
  not 
  probable 
  on 
  any 
  other 
  grounds 
  that 
  he 
  met 
  with 
  po7netaria, 
  as 
  we 
  

   might 
  have 
  expected 
  him, 
  if 
  he 
  had 
  collected 
  both 
  species, 
  to 
  notice 
  the 
  

   differences 
  between 
  them 
  when 
  he 
  was 
  drawing 
  up 
  his 
  original 
  descrip- 
  

   tions. 
  

  

  Mr. 
  Mann 
  suggests^* 
  that 
  the 
  vernata 
  was 
  crippled 
  by 
  this 
  disaster 
  

   of 
  1794, 
  and 
  did 
  not 
  afterwards, 
  at 
  least 
  for 
  many 
  years, 
  recover 
  its 
  former 
  

   predominancy, 
  its 
  place 
  being 
  taken, 
  when 
  Canker 
  Worms 
  again 
  ap- 
  

   peared, 
  by 
  pometaria. 
  

  

  Assuming 
  for 
  the 
  time 
  [he 
  says] 
  that 
  whenever 
  any 
  fall 
  images 
  are 
  mentioned 
  

   that 
  A. 
  pometaria 
  is 
  referred 
  to, 
  we 
  find 
  that 
  A. 
  pometaria 
  was 
  comparatively 
  rare 
  when 
  

   Peck 
  was 
  making 
  his 
  observations, 
  while 
  A. 
  vernata 
  was 
  "one 
  of 
  tbe 
  most 
  obvious 
  

   and 
  destructive 
  of 
  the 
  insects 
  that 
  inhabit 
  the 
  apple-tree." 
  The 
  Massachusetts 
  Society 
  

   for 
  Promoting 
  Agriculture 
  offered 
  a 
  large 
  premium 
  in 
  1793 
  for 
  a 
  satisfactory 
  natural 
  

   history 
  of 
  the 
  Canker 
  Worm, 
  and 
  another 
  for 
  a 
  method 
  of 
  destroying 
  the 
  Canker 
  

   Worm. 
  The 
  former 
  premium 
  was 
  quickly 
  secured 
  by 
  Mr. 
  Peck, 
  and 
  a 
  lesser 
  one 
  by 
  Mr. 
  

   Atwater, 
  but 
  the 
  latter 
  offer 
  remained 
  open 
  and 
  unsatisfied, 
  from 
  year 
  to 
  year, 
  till 
  

  

  «3Mas8. 
  Mag., 
  V. 
  7. 
  

  

  "Proc. 
  Bost. 
  Soo. 
  Nat. 
  Hist., 
  v. 
  16, 
  pp. 
  206-207. 
  

  

  