INSECTS INJURIOUS TO VEGETATION 



45 



or a few plants, as do so many other kinds of insects. The adults 

 are brownish and inconspicuous, with a spread of wings of an 

 inch and one half. The female (Fig. 26, A) is too heavy to fly 

 and therefore lays her eggs near where she emerges from her 

 cocoon. Methods of control are therefore similar to those em- 

 ployed for the tussock moth. Many birds feed on the moths 



Fig. 27. — The leopard moth: A, female; B, male; C, larva in burrow; D, 

 pupal skin from which moth has emerged. (From Insect Life.) 



and caterpillars, notably the cuckoo, Baltimore oriole, bluejay, 

 and yellow-throated vireo. The United States Bureau of Ento- 

 mology has been trying for years to introduce predaceous and 

 parasitic insects that will kill off the gypsy moth, but so far has 

 been only partially successful. Perhaps more effective than 

 these is a disease called flasherie which kills off vast numbers of 

 caterpillars each year. It is interesting to note that Pasteur 

 many years ago in France studied a similar disease of the silk- 

 worm and was able thereby to save the silk industry of that 



