REPORT OF THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST I915 75 



series of hydrocarbons as the one under consideration, we would 

 rather expect injury, possibly serious, to develop some time after the 

 treatment, possibly two to three years, much depending upon the 

 species and the age of the tree. There is no question, for example, 

 but that sugar maples are much more susceptible to oil applications 

 than many other trees „ and the data at hand indicate a m.uch greater 

 liability to injury in the case of the younger, thin-barked wood, be it 

 the trunk of a young tree or the branches of older trees. The main 

 point we wish to establish is that oils or oily compounds can not be 

 used with impunity upon the bark of living trees, and that apparent 

 freedom from damage for a season or two by no means indicates 

 that all danger of injury has passed. 



In this connection we would call attention to the case of two 

 hickory trees which we examined in 191 2. The trunks had been 

 lightly coated with gas tar September 3d or 4th of that year for the 

 purpose of determining its value in protecting the trees from invasion 

 by the hickory bark beetle. Under date. of October 22, 1 914 we were 

 informed that the trees had died and had been cut out in spite of 

 the fact that prior to treatment they were two of the best trees on 

 the estate. Others within 25 feet of those tarred were still in 

 excellent condition, indicating that gas tar as well as certain oily 

 compounds are inimical to the welfare of forest trees. 



NOTES FOR THE YEAR 



The depredations of the apple tent caterpillar, Malacosoma 

 americana Fabr., have been severe in many localities, though 

 the injury was not so general as in the preceding two years. The 

 forest tent caterpillar, Malacosoma disstria Hubn., was 

 also locally abundant and destructive, particularly in certain parts 

 of Long Island. 



There have been records during the last few years, of extended 

 flights by the cotton moth, Alabama argillacea Hubn., 

 a species unable to maintain itself in the north. It is interesting 

 to record, in this connection, the capture of a specimen at Albany 

 Novem.ber 3d, on a cool day following two moderately warm ones. 

 The moth was somewhat torpid but otherwise seemed uninjured. 



A noteworthy capture of another southern species, the giant 

 Erebus odora Linn., merits more than passing mention because 

 twenty years have elapsed since a specimen of this insect was brought 

 into the office. The species is recorded as being abundant in southern 

 Florida and the warmer portions of the Gulf States. 



