SHAPE TREE PESTS 



43 



When maturity is reached, the larvae spin their thin cocoons in the 

 crevices of the bark (fig. i, /), interweaving their long hairs, and within 

 this shelter transform to yellowish white pupae more or less shaded with 

 dark brown or black (fig. i, b, c). 



The difference between the sexes is strikingly shown by comparing 

 in figure i, d and e, illustrations of the male, with f, that of the female. 

 The former is a beautiful moth with large feathery antennae, the legs 

 tufted, and the wings and body delicately marked with several shades of 

 gray and grayish white. On the other hand the female is a nearly uni- 

 lorm gray, with simple antennae and but rudimentary wings. 



After remaining from io to 15 days in the pupa state, the wingless 

 female emerges and deposits her eggs on the empty cocoon under a con- 

 spicuous white mass of frothy matter (fig. 1, /i, k), which soon hardens 

 and forms a very effective protection. The individual egg is nearly 

 spheric, about A, in. in diameter, white or yellowish white, and with a 

 light brown spot surrounded by a ring of the same color. 



Life history. The winter is passed in the egg state, the young, 

 emerging about the latter part of May in this latitude, feed on the under 

 side of the leaves at first and complete their growth in about a month, 

 the transformation to the puna state occurring the latter part of June and 

 early in July. In Albany there is normally but one annual generation, 

 but in New York city and vicinity there are two broods each season. 



Remedies. The simplest and most satisfactory remedy is found in 

 gathering and destroying the egg masses. As the eggs are in a com- 

 pact mass, which is conspicuous and readily torn from the supporting 

 cocoon, either by hand or by some form of a scraper, the task is quickly 

 and easily performed. On account of the females being wingless, a tree 

 once thoroughly cleaned will not become reinfested very soon if larvae 

 are not abundant near by, and even then a band of loose cotton bound 

 tightly around the trunk will prevent their ascending and a consequent 

 reinfestation. This band is of value only when the tree is clean, «and 

 has not the slightest effect on caterpillars already in the trees unless 

 they are shaken down. Only the eggs should be collected and de- 

 stroyed, otherwise many beneficial parasites would be killed in cocoons 

 not bearing egg masses. The egg masses may be collected any time 

 after their deposition in the summer and prior to their hatching in 

 the spring. The best time is in early spring just before the leaves 

 appear, as this gives an opportunity for parasites to escape before the 

 cocoons are touched and the absence of leaves facilitates the detection 

 of the egg masses. In Rochester, N. Y., prizes were offered in 1894 to 

 the school children gathering the largest number of egg masses with 



