280 



THE GYPSY MOTH. 



destroyed. In 1884 these caterpillars were so numerous that 

 they covered the railroad tracks so that trains were moved 

 with difficulty. Again, in 1885, they occurred in great num- 

 bers along the southern shore. Observations in the Crimea 

 show, however, that the gypsy moth rarely continues in the 

 same locality in large quantities for more than three years. 

 Thus in 1861, an unusually large number of caterpillars was 

 noticed in the Crimea, and they continued to increase until 

 1863, when their highest number was reached. Although 

 the greater part of the caterpillars succeeded in forming 

 cocoons, yet very many of them were diseased, as was shown 

 by their soft and withered condition, and, when broken open, 

 there flowed out from some of them a dark-brown liquid 

 mass. In 1864, there were decidedly less caterpillars than 

 during the pre^dous year, while only occasional individuals 

 were met with in 1865. 



In a work on " Insects Injurious to Gardens and Orchards 

 in Central and Northern Kussia," by X. Kulagin of the Uni- 

 versity of Moscow, published in St. Petersburg in 1894, it 

 is stated that the gypsy moth is very widely distributed. It 

 is found in all the central provinces of Eussia, in the Cauca- 

 sus and in southern Siberia. Besides injuring fruit trees, 

 the caterpillars destroyed the leaves of forest trees over an 

 extent of territory comprising from one thousand to three 

 thousand dessatines (2,860 to 8,580 acres). 



In a work on "Injurious Insects," by Theodore Keppen, 

 published in Eussia in 1883, Yol. HI, commencing on page 

 49, it is stated, in speaking of the gypsy moth, that these 

 caterpillars often appear in countless numbers. In 1852,. in 

 the vicinity of Kishenev, eighty-three miles north-west of 

 Odessa, they occurred by millions in the gardens and forests. 

 Having destroyed all the leaves, they attacked the bark 

 of the young shoots and completely ruined a large number 

 of different kinds of trees. In 1842, and also in the early 

 sixties and seventies, Georg Seopru states that they were 

 exceedingly injurious to the fruit trees in the Crunea. Ac- 

 cording to the statements of Professor Eversmann, the for- 

 ests of oak and aspen, in the province of Orenboorg, were 

 stripped of their leaves, presenting the same appearance 

 as in winter. In 1852, the caterpillars laid waste the forests 



