DANGBE OP SPREAD OP GIPSY AND BROWK-TAHj MOTHS. 19 



Fig. 4.— Male gipsy moth. Slightly en- 

 (From Insect Life). 



This insect is a very serious enemy of orchard, forest, and shade 

 trees and all ornamental shrubbery. In Europe it has a wide dis- 

 tribution, extending from England to the Himalayas, and as far 

 north as Sweden and as far south as Algeria. It is a well-known 

 orchard pest, and for many years laws have been operative in Europe 

 requiring the property owners to clear 

 their trees of the hibernating nests of 

 this insect in winter. 



The damage to trees and shrubs by 

 this insect is often very severe. It has 

 a special liking for pear and apple, but 

 has a recorded list of over 80 different 

 food plants. Thousands of fruit trees 

 in the vicinity of Boston have been killed by this insect, and serious 

 injury has been done to woodlands and forests, not, however, equal- 

 ing the damage by the gipsy moth. It does not seem to attack 

 coniferous trees. 



One of the most serious results of the presence of the brown-tail 

 is the poisoning of human beings by the hairs shed by the caterpillars, 

 discussed in an earlier paragraph of this publication (p. 11). 



The following description of the different stages of the insect and 

 its seasonal history is taken from Farmers' Bulletin 264, which gives 

 a general account of this pest, with general methods of controlling it.^ 



Description of the Different Stages of the Insect. 



The eggs. — ^The eggs of the brown-tail moth are small and globular, and are laid 

 in masses on the underside of leaves in the latter part of July. The egg masses are 



brown in color and are covered 

 with hair, each mass contain- 

 ing about 300 eggs. They are 

 much smaller than the egg 

 masses of the gipsy moth, with 

 which they are most likely to 

 be confused, and average 

 about two-thirds of an inch in 

 length by about one-foiu^h of 

 an inch in width. They are 

 thus elongate in form, and are 

 convex. 



The larva, or caterpillar. — 



FIG. S.-Feinale gipsy moth. Slightly enlarged. (From Insect The fuU-grown larva (fig. 6 at 

 Life.) right) is about 2 inches long, 



reddish brown in color, with 

 a broken white stripe on each side and two red dots on the back near the hind end. 

 It carries also patches of orange and is covered with tubercles bearing long barbed 

 hairs. The tubercles along the back and sides are covered with short brown hairs in 



I For a full account of the brown-taU moth see Farmers' Bulletin 264 (1906) and Bufletln 87 (1910), 

 Bureau of Entomology, U. S. Department of Agriculture. 



