282 



THE GYPSY MOTH. 



this unusual appearance of Porihetria disjpar, it is hard to 

 say where the calamity began. Considering the time of their 

 appearance, it is supposed that they first appeared en masse 

 in the province of Kharkov. According to Yaroschev, the 

 caterpillars were seen in threatening numbers in the district 

 of Zmiev during 1877-78. The insect may have spread 

 westward in the province of Poltava and eastward in the 

 province of Voronezh, and from these to more distant parts. 

 The simultaneous appearance in different places so widely 

 separated, led to the opinion that there were various places 

 of origin from which the insect was distributed. Yaroschev 

 states that the caterpillars were so abundant in the vicinity 

 of Zmiev, in 1878, that in going from one forest to another 

 they literally covered the walls of the houses lying in the 

 way. They fed on all sorts of plants, except ash (^Fraxinus 

 excelsior) and wild pear. 



Anderson gives interesting details of the presence of the 

 caterpillars in the forest of Shipov in the province of Voro- 

 nezh. They first attacked the so-called winter oaks ( Quer- 

 cus pedunculata, YSiY. torc?{^om), and, after destroying the 

 leaves as soon as they appeared , they devoured the leaves of 

 the lime tree, aspen, hawthorn, spindle tree, hazel and others, 

 and finally the numerous grasses were destroyed. Early in 

 June they began to pupate, and by the middle of the month 

 they were all in this stage. About 3,500 dessatines (10,010 

 acres) of the forest were laid bare, and detached trees in 

 other parts of the woods were stripped -of their leaves. By 

 the middle of J uly the moths had emerged and laid an enor- 

 mous number of es^o's. 



According to Gazen, vast quantities of these caterpillars 

 were seen in the district of Kirsanov in the province of Tam- 

 bov, in April, 1879. Having eaten all the leaves on the trees 

 and shrubs, the caterpillars descended to the ground and lit- 

 erally covered it in all directions. In the district of Volsk, 

 in the province of Saratov, the caterpillars of the gypsy moth 

 appeared in vast numbers in April, 1879, eating the leaves 

 of all sorts of trees, though preferring the birch and oak, 

 and finally they attacked the pine. By the end of May, 

 10,000 dessatines (28,600 acres) of forest were completely 

 denuded of their leaves. After this they devoured the 



