11 



been made seriously ill by it. The best remedy for it is the liberal 

 use of cooling lotions, or what is more satisfactory, even if less 

 pleasant, the free use of common vaseline. 



Where the brown-tail moth caterpillar exists in great numbers, 

 it at times gathers upon houses and even enters them, causing 

 extreme annoyance. Like the gypsy moth, the brown-tail moth, 

 where it abounds, depreciates the value of residential property. 



Life History. 

 Tlie Egg. — The egg mass of the brown-tail moth somewhat re- 

 sembles that of the gypsy moth, but it is laid on the under side of a 

 leaf — seldom on a tree trunk — and is smaller and more elongated 

 and of a brighter reddish-brown color. From July 15 to the end of 

 the month, the white moths lay their eggs in brown, hair-covered 

 masses on the leaves near the top of pear and other 

 trees. Each egg cluster contains about three hun- 

 dred eggs, closely packed in a mass about two-thirds 

 of an inch long by one-fourth of an inch wide. 



The Caterpillar. — The eggs hatch during August, 

 and the young caterpillars begin to feed in clus- 

 ters on the upper surface of the leaves. They soon 

 commence the work of spinning their winter webs. 

 In making the web a number of leaves in the vicinity 

 of the egg clusters are drawn together and carefully 

 spun in with a tenacious silken web. The web is 

 grayish in color, composed of dead leaves and silk, 

 and is very hard to tear apart. Each web contains 

 about two hundred and fifty caterpillars, and varies 

 in length from four to six inches. With the approach 

 of cold weather the caterpillars enter the web and 

 close the exit holes. We then have the strange 

 phenomenon of a caterpillar wintering over when only 

 one-quarter grown, and emerging the following spring 

 to complete its life history. The extremes of cold in Massachu- 

 setts do not seem to afEect these insects adversely. They emerge 

 in the spring, usually early in April, eat first the buds and then 

 the blossoms, and attack the foliage of fruit trees as soon as it 

 develops. The full-grown caterpillar is about two inches in length, 

 with a broken white stripe on either side and two conspicuous 

 red dots on the back near the posterior end. 



Stripping the foliage of one tree, they go to others, and con- 

 tinue to eat until full grown, when the cocoons are spun within the 

 leaves at the ends of the branches or sometimes on the tree trunks. 



Fig. 0.— Winter 

 web of brown- 

 tail motli (re- 

 duced). 



