PARK AND CEMETERY. 
270 
TREE PESTS AND HOW TO 
No study of spraying, of insect pests 
or of tree troubles can be all inclusive 
for a wide range of territory, and the 
first thing for the tree guardian in park, 
cemetery, street or estate is to make a 
careful study of his local conditions, of 
the insects he has to fight, of the trees 
under his care, and of the progress they 
have made. Every such study must be 
more or less localized, and the assist- 
ance of the state agricultural authorities 
should be the first aid sought. Nearly 
all the state agricultural experiment 
stations or agricultural colleges have is- 
sued bulletins and done experimental 
work on tree problems and tree pests. 
EGG MASS OF GYPSY MOTH ON BARK. 
When the information they have is se- 
cured and assimilated, and a careful 
study of the trees to be treated has been 
made, the tree doctor is in a position to 
diagnose his case and apply the stand- 
ard treatment best suited to the trees 
and shrubs under his care. 
It is the purpose of this study to de- 
scribe briefly some of the chief pests 
with which ornamental trees and shrubs 
are affected, and to describe the solu- 
tions and methods of treatment that 
have been found best by experimental 
THE ELM BARK BEETLE AND ITS AP- 
PEARANCE ON THE TREE (CHAPMAN). 
and scientific authorities who have in- 
vestigated them. 
Two of the most dangerous of re- 
cently introduced tree pests that have 
been especially active in New England 
are the European wood leopard moth 
and the European elm bark beetle. Jas. 
W. Chapman, Entomologist of the Pub- 
lic Grounds Department of Boston, has 
made a very careful study of these two 
insects, and his method of treating them 
that has recently been published by 
Harvard University. 
Leopard Moth. 
It was during the early summer of 
1909 that the European leopard moth, 
Zeuzera pyrina Linne, was first discov- 
ered in the college yard. This was the 
second report of this insect in the State 
of Massachusetts, for R. W. Curtis of 
the Arnold Arboretum had found a sin- 
gle specimen of the larva in a shrub in 
the aboretum during the preceding Jan- 
uary The discovery of this moth in 
the college yard caused considerable 
alarm, for it was quite generally known 
to be a dangerous pest of shade trees, 
and everyone wished to know just how 
much foothold it had gained in the old 
elms. 
The infestation was at first thought 
to be light, but on more thorough ex- 
amination all the trees of the yard were 
found to harbor many of these borers. 
The injury caused by this insect is con- 
fined to the larvae, which do not feed 
upon the foliage but bore into the 
twigs, branches and trunks of the trees 
they infest, and feed upon the living 
wood. W. S. Burke, superintendent of 
the grounds and buildings at Harvard 
University, on learning the condition of 
the trees immediately appealed to the 
Federal Entomological Bureau at Wash- 
ington and to a number of prominent 
entomologists of the country for sug- 
gestions as to methods of exterminating 
the pest. As there had been no very 
FIGHT THEM 
complete observations made on the life 
history and habits of the insect in this 
country, the result of his appeal was 
not entirely satisfactory, and showed 
that the habits of the moth would have 
to be worked out locally before it could 
be successfully combated. 
The leopard moth obviously derives 
its name from the spotted appearance 
of the adult as shown in the illustration. 
The general ground color of the wings 
of both sexes is white. They are semi- 
transparent and thickly dotted with 
steel-blue spots which have a greenish 
cast. The thorax has on its dorsal sur- 
face six steel-blue spots, all of which 
are about equal in size. The abdomen 
is lightly covered with grayish scales. 
The leopard moth caterpillar is known 
to feed on practically every kind of tree 
anci shrub except conifers (evergreens). 
At one time it was thought that it con- 
fined itself chiefly to horse-chestnut, but 
the observations upon which this state- 
ment was based were very incomplete. 
In Europe its larva is recorded as 
feeding and living in a great variety of 
deciduous trees such as elm, linden, ash, 
birch, beech, walnut, white alder, holly, 
black alder, poplar, oak, chestnut, maple 
(Acer dasycarpum), pear, apple, plum, 
syringa (Cystus), mountain ash, red oak, 
willow, spindle-tree ( Euonymus ), and 
WORK OF THE LEOPARD MOTH ON 
THE TREE. (CHAPMAN). 
