107 



cases of the European mantis (Mantis religiosa) have been procured 

 from central New York, and we hope that this species may soon aid 

 in checking some of our troublesome species of plant -lice and other 

 insects. 



THE BROWN-TAIL MOTH IN NEW HAMPSHIRE. 



By Clarence M. Weed, Durham, N. H. 



Eastern Massachusetts has been for some time the home of two 

 insect pests of special interest to the country at large. I refer, of 

 course, to the brown-tail moth and the gypsy moth. As the first of 

 these has within the last four years been gradually invading New 

 Hampshire, I have thought a few notes concerning it would be worth 

 bringing before you. 



At our last meeting I reported to you that apparently the brown-tail 

 moth was first introduced into New Hampshire in 1899 by means of a 

 severe gale which carried the moths along the eastern coast of Massa- 

 chusetts. A winter nest of the insect was found in the town of Sea- 

 brook, N. H., in December, 1899, by Mr. F. C. Moulton, of the gypsy 

 moth commission. 



Upon the passage of our nursery-inspection law last March I took 

 steps to ascertain to what extent the insect had spread in the south- 

 eastern corner of the State. It very soon became evident that all 

 the towns along the coast, at least, were already infested, and that the 

 insect was slowly but surely spreading. Later investigations showed 

 that very few moths were in the State away from the coast. 



The region about Newburyport is very generally infested b} r the 

 brown-tail moth. The evidence in hand indicates that the electric cars 

 running from there to Portsmouth and Exeter have been the most 

 important means of distribution, as the nests have been quite generally 

 found along the car lines. This is what might be expected from the 

 fact that these cars are continually coming from regions where the cat- 

 erpillars are abundant on the trees overhanging the streets through 

 which the cars run. Such caterpillars, frequently dropping as they 

 do, might easih x be carried on the cars themselves, or on the persons 

 or effects of passengers. In a less degree the freight and passenger 

 cars of the railroads may readily serve to distribute the pests, as well 

 as various other sorts of vehicles, especially automobiles, which pass in 

 great numbers through the infested area to regions in New Hampshire 

 now uninfested. 



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

 moth in a community is that of the peculiar skin disease it may pro- 

 duce. The hairs of the caterpillars are furnished with minute barbs. 

 When the caterpillars molt these barbed hairs are shed with the skin, 



