New York State Education Department 



New York State Museum 



John M. Clarke Director 

 Ephraim Porter Felt State Entomologist 



Bulletin 103 

 ENTOMOLOGY 25 



THE GYPSY AND BROWN TAIL MOTHS 



BY 



EPHRAIM PORTER FELT D. Sc. 



These two ravenous leaf feeders, as it is well known, are thor- 

 oughly established in eastern Massachusetts and have amply- 

 demonstrated their pernicious natures. The gipsy moth cater- 

 pillar, remarkable because of its omnivorous tastes and voracity, 

 is an exceedingly injurious form. It feeds, when present in large 

 numbers, on almost every tree and shrub besides herbaceous plants; 

 Its operations are particularly fatal to pine, hemlocks and other 

 evergreens, since one defoliation of these trees is inevitably followed 

 by death. Three strippings in successive years kill our more com- 

 mon deciduous trees such as oaks, maples, elms etc. It is difficult 

 for one not conversant with the situation to gain an adequate idea 

 of conditions in the infested region. Thousands of acres of decidu- 

 ous trees have been killed as a result of the work of this insect. 

 For example, one 40 acre woodland park was entirely defoliated 

 in 1905. One tree in this infested tract was banded so that the 

 insects could not ascend, and three wheelbarrow loads of cater- 

 pillars were removed from around its base. This gives a little idea 

 of the hordes present in badly infested territory. 



The more recently imported brown tail moth is especially de- 

 structive to fruit trees and has a marked fondness for wild cherry, 

 white oaks, maples and elms. It has become so numerous in 

 many sections of eastern Massachusetts as to strip thousands of 

 these trees, and it has proved itself an efficient ally of the gipsy 

 moth in the work of destruction. The ravages of these insects 

 have become so serious that in some places owners of woodlands, 

 rather than undertake the enormously expensive work of checking 

 the pests, have sacrificed their forests to the woodman's axe, even 

 within a few miles of the city cf Boston. 



