50 



The Gypsy Moth. 



" Commonwealth of Massachusetts," and showing how effi- 

 cacious combined and intelligently directed energy is in 

 checking the spread of insect pests. 



The Gypsy moth is a well-known pest in some European 

 countries, where it causes much destruction in woods, forests, 

 orchards, and gardens. It appears to have been unknown in 

 the United States until 1868, when it was introduced by 

 one " Leopold Trouvelot, a French artist, naturalist, and 

 astronomer of note," who imported it in the course of his 

 experiments with silkworms, and upon some of the moths 

 •escaping he announced the fact publicly. This took place at 

 Medford, Mass., and within twelve years from the time of its 

 introduction the moth had become a serious nuisance to those 

 living in and near Trouvelot' s house. Within twenty years it 

 had spread into thirty townships, and gained a foothold in 

 ■each without attracting public attention. In 1889 and 1890 

 the Gypsy moth caterpillars were a terrible pest in various 

 districts, eating off the leaves from all trees in gardens, 

 orchards, shrubberies, and woods. The caterpillars were 

 so thick on the trees that they could be heard eating. 

 They got on fences until they made them quite 

 "black. They got into the houses, and were even 

 found in " beds when the blankets were turned down." It 

 is considered that if the State had taken no action in this 

 matter the caterpillars would have increased to such an 

 extent that they would have bred a pestilence in the infested 

 localities ; the stench arising from them was nauseating. 

 " The foliage was completely stripped from all the trees, 

 presenting an awful picture of devastation, and promising in 

 a, short time to kill every tree and shrub, and all vegetation 

 in any region visited by the creatures, which shows how 

 inadequate individual effort was to cope with the subject." 

 In the report photographs are given of trees in woods and 

 orchards without a vestige of leaf upon them in midsummer. 



In 1 89 1 an Act to provide against depredations of the 

 Gypsy moth was passed by the Massachusetts Legislature 

 authorising the State Board of Agriculture [to provide and 

 •carry into execution all reasonable measures to prevent the 

 spreading, and to secure the extermination, of the Gypsy moth 



