REPORT OF THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST I906 4/ 



cooperation between local authorities and State officials in Massa- 

 chusetts, and as a consequence the numbers of both pests have been 

 largely reduced, in spite of the fact that they were exceedingly 

 abundant the preceding summer. Some extended woodland tracts 

 were completely defoliated, and the control of the gipsy moth in 

 such situations is still a grave problem. The federal government 

 is . cooperating with the state of Massachusetts in an effort to 

 prevent the further spread of the insect as well as in studying its 

 natural enemies. It is proposed to keep all trees near highways 

 as free from these insects as possible, in order to prevent their 

 being carried into new territory by users of the highways. This 

 alone should reduce very largely the danger of the gipsy moth 

 becoming established in other sections. 



A serious effort has been made to secure natural enemies. Dr 

 L. O. Howard, Chief of the Bureau of Entomology, United States 

 Department of Agriculture, has an extensive acquaintance with 

 foreign entomologists, and this enabled him to secure the services 

 of a number of skilled specialists for the collection and shipment 

 to this country, of large numbers of parasites of both the gipsy 

 and brown tail moths. Shipments were sent directly to Sup't 

 A. H. Kirkland and installed in the parasitic laboratory 

 at Saugus. The insects were carefully bred out, the dangerous 

 secondary hyperparasites destroyed and the beneficial forms reared 

 in cages, and those abundant established under favorable conditions 

 m the open. The results obtained during the season of 1906 have 

 been very successful, in that several important natural enemies 

 have completed their life cycle in this country and it now only 

 remains to ascertain whether they can stand the rigors of the New 

 England winter and multiply sufficiently to be of material service 

 in checking these two pests. The outlook for this line of work is 

 certainly very encouraging, and so far as controlling these insects 

 in woodlands is concerned, it appears to be the most practical way 

 of attaining this much desired end. 



Oriental slug caterpillar (Cnidocampa flavescens 

 Walk.). This slug caterpillar was discovered in the vicinity of 

 Boston at Dorchester, Mass. in 1906 and careful examination 

 showed that it had become established over a territory about 2 

 miles long and i^ miles in breadth. It appears to be a species 

 that can sustain itself readily in this latitude, though, as our native 

 slug caterpillars rarely become abundant enough to cause any ma- 

 terial injury, it is hoped that the same may be the case with this 



