February, ’18] 
PARROTT: APPLE ERMINE MOTH 
55 
years old. Twenty tree protectors were placed about the trees in mid 
June, and resealed, as in the first plot. At the close of the season they 
were examined for borers. The per cent of infestation was 30, as com¬ 
pared to 40 per cent in the check plot. In this second plot a number of 
large ant nests were found under the protectors, which served as ideal 
places under which to build their nests. 
Perhaps the failure of the tree protectors in this case may be ex¬ 
plained by the fact that the high winds sweeping over Lake Erie and 
Sandusky Bay sway the trees to such an extent that it is very difficult 
to keep the protectors tightly sealed for any length of time. 
President R. A. Cooley: Is there any further discussion on this 
paper? If not, I will call for the next paper, “The Apple Ermine 
Moth in New York,” by Mr. Parrott, of Geneva, N. Y. 
This paper will be presented by Air. Fulton. 
THE APPLE ERMINE MOTH 
By P. J. Parrott, New York Agricultural Experiment Station 
In the Journal of Economic Entomology, vol. 3, p. 157, a brief 
account was given of the occurrence of the cherry ermine moth ( Ypon- 
omeuta padellus L.) on imported cherry seedlings. Since the publica¬ 
tion of this article an associated species has been observed on apple, 
and it is desired at this time to place on record some notes relative to 
its identity and distribution in nurseries and orchards. 
Of the various species of insects imported from Europe on apple seed¬ 
lings no other is more persistent or occurs in such large numbers as the 
ermine moth. Since our attention was attracted to it in 1910, no year 
has passed that the horticultural inspectors have not discovered colo¬ 
nies of caterpillars in plantings of foreign stocks. Moreover, recent 
years have witnessed greatly increased numbers of the insects. Dur¬ 
ing 1915 and 1916 approximately 4,223 infested plants were discovered, 
while during 1917 all previous records were exceeded as 13,674 seedlings 
infested with caterpillars were discovered and destroyed. In view of 
the experiences in New York it is a significant fact that neither this 
species nor the associated form have so far been reported from any 
other state. The only area on the American continent outside of the 
state of New York from which the insect has been reported is New 
Brunswick where, according to Dr. Hewitt, it was found necessary to 
destroy 450 imported apple seedlings because of the presence of egg 
masses. 
Aside from the increased abundance of the insects in foreign impor¬ 
tations, we have also to record the discovery of the pest in three bear- 
