368 



REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONERS OF 



Remedies. The habit the caterpillars have of feeding under a large web renders 

 it comparatively easy to cut off the infested portions of the limb and kill the pests 

 by crushing or burning, and where the insect is present in small numbers, this is 

 probably the most satisfactory method. This pest can also be fought by burning 

 them with a torch while the web is still on the tree but many of the caterpillars 



Fig. 6. Meteorus hyphantri^e, female and cocoon. (After Riley, Bull. 10, U. S. Dept. Agr., Div. 



Ent.) 



may escape destruction and unless the work is very cautiously done, the fire may 

 injure the tree seriously. Spraying with arsenical poisons about the time the cater- 

 pillars appear is also most satisfactory where apparatus for such work is at hand. 



v^pin^ fUm Caterpillar. 



Envanessa antiopd Linn. 



The depredations of this insect attract considerable attention from time to time. 

 It is common in the butterfly form, though its connection with the spined, black, 

 red-spotted caterpillars may not be known to many. This insect was present in 

 great numbers in various sections of the state in 1899 when its depredations on elms 

 led to considerable complaint. It not only feeds on elms but occasionally it is so 

 abundant as to literally strip acres of poplars. 



Description. The parent insect is a magnificent dark maroon butterfly with 

 blue spotted, black and yellow bordered wings which have an expanse of about three 

 inches, see plate 2, figure 1 1. The under surface of the wings presents a striking con- 

 trast, being a dark bluish black and brown intermixed with some yellowish gray. The 



