TABLE 1.--Some foreign plant pests that have invaded the United States--Continued 
Name and nature 
of pest 
Gypsy moth--in 
caterpillar 
stage, it de- 
vours foliage, 
weakening or 
killing trees 
European corn 
borer--worms of 
the moth feed 
on corn and 
certain other 
plants 
Japanese 
beetle--grubs 
and adult 
beetles feed on 
275 kinds of 
plants 
Pink bollworm-- 
eats seeds and 
damages bolls 
of cotton 
Golden nema- 
tode--the tiny 
parasitic worms 
feed on roots 
of potato and 
tomato plants 
When and where 
first found in 
continental U. S. 
1869; 
Massachusetts 
1910; 
Massachusetts 
1916; 
New Jersey 
aleniyss 
Texas 
1941; 
New York 
Arrived from 
France 
Southern 
Europe 
Japan 
Mexico 
Northern 
Europe 
» or ce eee 
Small start. . .serious consequences 
An amateur naturalist brought gypsy moth eggs 
from France in 1869, hoping this moth could be 
bred to make silk. (It could not.) Some moths 
escaped from his laboratory and their descend- 
ants by billions began destroying Northeastern 
forests and timberlands, orchards, and home 
trees and shrubs. The longest continuous or- 
ganized war on an insect pest in this country 
has been fought--since 1890--to get rid of the 
gypsy moth. As the battle stands, the pest has 
been kept from spreading into the South or west 
of the Mississippi. Strong efforts are being 
made to destroy the gypsy moth in large areas, 
to narrow down the damage. 
Broom factories in Massachusetts imported some 
broom corn infested with pinkish-brown worms in 
1910. Seven years later, an agricultural experi- 
ment station scientist discovered this kind of 
worm infesting sweet corn in market gardens 
near Boston. Hiding in corn, the European corn 
borer spread until in 1949 its board bill 
reached an all-time high of $350 million. The 
borer is still in cornfields in 39 States. 
A nurseryman who imported iris plants in 1916 
is believed to have introduced Japanese beetle 
grubs in soil balled around the roots. This 
beetle caused little trouble in Japan, where 
natural enemies suppressed it. In the United 
States, the beetle multiplied freely and the 
adults ate an amazing variety of foliage--off 
flowering plants, fruit trees, ornamental 
plants, and vegetable crops--while the grubs 
damaged turf of pastures, lawns, and golf 
courses. Strenuous efforts have kept the Jap- 
anese beetle from going further west than the 
Mississippi. In eastern States, this pest costs 
$10 million a year loss and trouble to farmers, 
nurserymen, and city dwellers. 
Qil mills in Texas presumably received some 
Mexican cottonseed in 1916 infested with the 
pink bollworm--a pest originally from India-- 
for the following year the pink bollworm was in 
cottonfields near the mills. This pest has been 
kept from spreading beyond 6 of the 20 cotton- 
growing States, but when wiped out in one 
locality it breaks out elsewhere if given half 
a chance. In its most destructive year in this 
country, 1952, the pink bollworm cost our cot- 
ton growers $28 million. The pink bollworm got 
into Hawaii in 1909 and caused so much damage 
that the islands had to give up growing cotton. 
In some unknown way, foreign soil infested with 
the golden nematode introduced this tiny worm 
to Long Island soil. The all but invisible worm 
could wreck the United States' potato and 
tomato crops, if it spread freely. Thus far, 
teamwork of growers and officials has kept the 
golden nematode from getting beyond two Long 
Island counties. But nearly a hundred times a 
year, more cysts containing eggs of this pest 
are found and destroyed by inspectors at our 
ports and borders. Cysts have been found in soil 
clinging to foreign automobiles, army tanks, 
shamrocks in the mail, even tourists' hiking 
boots. Eggs within the cysts can stay alive 
in soil 10 years or even longer. 
