36 



the settlement of the country, the clearing of the land and the 

 planting of orchards, the depredations of the caterpillars gradually 

 became more noticeable. It is not probable, however, that it was 

 considered a very serious pest in the orchard until 1 841, when 

 Harris' mentioned it briefly. In 1844 the same writer discussed* 

 it more at length, referring to it as " a new depredator of the 

 orchard " as if he considered the habit of feeding upon the foliage 

 of fruit trees a newly acquired one. I/ike most other insects this 

 species undoubtedly had its periods of abundance and decline, but 

 of this there is little positive evidence in the early references to it. 

 Harris^ again mentioned it in 1852 as an apple pest, as did Fitch' 

 in 1856 and 1858. There appears to be no further indication of 

 extensive injury until 1866 and 1867, when the caterpillars again 

 became very abundant, especially in Western New York. Since 

 then there have been frequent accounts of their ravages all 

 along the Atlantic States, the outbreaks usually being confined to 

 quite limited areas. Some of the most important of these were in 

 Maine in 1863, 1867, 1874, 1875 and in 1889; also in South 

 Carolina in 1891 when the caterpillars appeared upon the forest 

 trees in almost incredible numbers. During the past three or 

 four years there has been a notable increase in the number of 

 caterpillars in New York and throughout the New England 

 States. 



But little was written about the history of this insect in the west 

 previous to 1870, when Dr. C. V. Riley' mentions its ravages 

 during the previous two years in Arkansas, and also states 

 that ' ' in many parts of Missouri it has been very destruc- 

 tive during the past two summers." From the statements of 

 Riley, Bruner, Murtfeldt and Lugger it appears that the cater- 

 pillars have caused a similar and probably equal injury from time 

 to time in the middle states. The extent of its distribution in the 

 west is not definitely known, but it probably occurs sparingly as 

 far west as California. 



3Harris. Insects Injurious to Vegetation, ist ed., p. 271. 

 ■•New England Farmer, 5: 412. 



sHarris. Insects Injurious to Vegetation. 2d ed., p. 291. 

 «Fitch. Second and Fifth Reports on the Insects of New York. 

 'American Entomologist and Botanist, 2: 245 ; 261-266. 



