Important notes on the gypsy and brown-tail moths

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State of Rhode, dele Pope Plantations.

OFFICE OF THE COMMISSIONER FOR THE SUPPRESSION OF

THE Gypsy AND BRowN-TAIL MOTHS.

CIRCULAR No. 1.

IMPORTANT NOTES ON THE
GYPSY AND BROWN - TAIL MOTHS.

JUNE 15, 1906

PROVIDENCE, R. |.
E. | FREEMAN & SONS, STATE PRINTERS
1906

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ALBERT R. MANN
LIBRARY
AT
Biate of (RGode JotamCORNELL UNIVERSITY

OFFICE OF THE COMMISSIONER FOR THE SUPPRESSION OF THE GYPSY
AND BROWN-TAIL MOTHS.

CIRCULAR No. I.

IMPORTANT NOTES ON THE
GYPSY and BROWNGTAIL MOTHS.

JUNE 15, 1906.

INTRODUCTORY.

The gypsy and brown-tail moths, against which the work of sup-
pression is directed, are European insects accidentally introduced into
this country. The gypsy moth was brought here in 1868 or 1869,
and the brown-tail moth was introduced sometime in the early nine-
ties. The regions in Massachusetts where these insects first gained
a foothold are now thoroughly infested, and that State has spent
millions of dollars in trying to control or suppress them.

It is well-known history how that State fought the gypsy moth,
and how at the point of almost complete extermination the work was
discontinued and the pest was again allowed to spread until it now
covers a large part of the eastern half of the State. It is also common
knowledge what a terrible scourge both of these insects have become
in Massachusetts; how they have destroyed thousands of acres
of woodlands, of park trees and of trees in private grounds, and how
they have become so numerous in places as to drive the people from
their homes. Citizens of Rhode Island should, therefore, congratu-

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late themselves that the Assembly at its last session appropriated
a sum of money with which to begin the fight against these insects
before the State has become so thoroughly infested that similar ex-
periences and struggles will ensue.

As will be noted later, this appropriation will not be sufficient to
exterminate the insect; but there is every hope that the State,
having taken hold of the matter, will, with the assistance perhaps
of the city and national government, carry the fight to a finish.
There is also hope that the insect can be exterminated in this State
if a reasonable time is allowed and necessary means are provided.

This circular will contain an outline of the work as now organized,
and also short descriptions of both insects to help the people of the
State to identify them when they appear. Fuller accounts of the
insects and the work against them will be given in a report to be
issued later. We hope that all concerned will give a hearty co-opera-
tion in the work and help speed it to the desired termination.

A. E. STENE,
State Commissioner for the Suppression of the Gypsy and Brown-Tail .Moths.

PLATE I.

Tue Grpsy Mora

1-2, Female Moth. 2-4, Male Moth. 5, Pupa.
6-7, Caterpillars—One More Fully Developed than the Other.
8-Egg Mass. 2-10, Eggs Enlarged.

From special report on the Gypsy Moth by the Massachusetts State Board
of Agriculture, 1897.

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STATE OF RHODE ISLAND.

In GENERAL ASSEMBLY,

January Session, A. D. 1906.
RESOLUTION

MAKING AN APPROPRIATION FOR THE SUPPRESSION AND EXTERMINATION OF THE
Gypsy aND Brown-Tait Moras.

Resolved, That the sum of fifty-one hundred dollars or so much thereof as may
be necessary be and the same is hereby appropriated, out of any money in the
treasury not otherwise appropriated, to be used for the purpose of suppressing
and exterminating the gypsy and brown-tail moths in this State; and

Resolved, That the governor be and he is hereby authorized to appoint some
experienced citizen of this state a commissioner who shall serve without pay ex-
cepting for actual and necessary expenses while carrying out the provisions of
this resolution, whose duty it shall be to see that the said fifty-one hundred dollars
is properly and judiciously used in the suppression and extermination of the
gypsy and brown-tail moths; and the state auditor is hereby authorized to draw
his orders on the general treasurer for the above sum of fifty-one hundred dollars,
or so much thereof as may be needed, upon the presentation of properly authenti-
cated vouchers. Said commissioner and persons in his employ may at all proper
times enter upon any land of the state or of a municipality, corporation, or other
owner or owners and may use all reasonable means in carrying out the provisions

of this resolution:

Provided, however, that no part of this money shall be paid without the ap-
proval of the governor who on examination shall be satisfied that the appro-
priation has been properly used before signing the vouchers; and said commis-
sioner is hereby directed to make a full report of his doings to the next January
session of the general assembly.

STATE OF RHODE ISLAND.

OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY OF STATE,

Provipence, April 30, 1906.
I certify the foregoing to be a true copy of the resolution passed by the Gen-
eral Assembly of said State on the 20th day of April, A. D. 1906.
In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand and affixed the seal of the
State aforesaid the date and year first written above.

CHARLES P. BENNETT,
Secretary of State.

Life History of the Gypsy Moth.

Srg Prats I.

The gypsy moth has a complete metamorphosis. This means
that it has four stages in its life history—the egg stage; the caterpillar,
or active feeding, stage; the pupa, or resting, stage; and the adult,
or moth, stage. At the present writing the insect is found in the
caterpillar stage. The eggs are laid in clusters, containing from
three hundred to seven hundred eggs, on trees, shrubs, rocks, and
leaves; in fact on almost any object on which the female moth may
happen to be when ready to lay. The eggs are mixed with hairs
from the body of the mother insect and with a frothy glue which
make the clusters resemble a small piece of sponge. The clusters
are light yellow in color, oblong in shape, and from one-half to one
and one-half inches in length by from one-third to one inch in width.
The eggs begin to hatch in April and continue hatching through May.
At first the caterpillar is, of course, very small, and would be difficult
to distinguish from a great many others of different species. It
grows quite rapidly, and in nine or ten weeks reaches its maturity,
when it will be from one to one and two-thirds inches in length. The
caterpillar is covered with tufts of long hairs growing from projections
called tubercles along is sides and back. Its principal distinguishing
mark is the two rows of tubercles extending along its back. The
first five pairs of these tubercles are blue, and the six following ones
are red or crimson. At first the caterpillar feeds at all times of the
day. When approaching maturity, however, it feeds during the
night and crawls into holes or crevices to rest for the day. When
mature, the caterpillar changes into a dark brown pupa. Pupze may
be found, in clusters or singly, attached to the bark of trees, to rocks,
fence posts, and other objects. Frequently clusters of these pupe
may be found accompanied by cast-off skins of the caterpillar,
empty pupa cases, and egg masses. The adult insect emerges in
about two weeks. The male is light brown in color, with dark

7

irregular bands across the fore wings. It is somewhat smaller than
the female moth, and flies actively with a zigzag motion. Unlike
most moths it flies in the daytime and rests at night. The females
are white in color, and have irregular dark brown bands or markings
across the wings. In size, it is from one and one-half to two and
one-half inches between the wing-tips. It is much heavier than
the male, and seldom if ever flies. It moves, if at all, only a short
distance from the place where it emerged from the pupa case. This
characteristic of the female moth prevents the rapid spread of the
insect through its own efforts.

OF SPECIAL IMPORTANCE.

1. Care should be used not to transport the insect on wagons,
autos, and other vehicles, and on lumber, wood, rubbish, etc., from
infested districts to places not now infested.

2. It is forbidden by United States law to send live insects or
insect eggs through the mail, or from one State to another by any
public carrier. Parties finding suspicious insects, therefore, should
notify this office at once, and an inspector will be delegated to in-
vestigate, or else directions will be sent for killing the insects in such
a way that they can be safely sent to this office and still be in shape
for identification. «

3. Egg clusters should in no case be scraped off from the trees,
or taken by anyone from the places where they are found, without
permission from this office.

4, Intentional carrying of live insects or egg masses of the gypsy
or brown-tail moths from one place in the State to another is strictly
forbidden:

5. Property owners will greatly facilitate the work against the
insect by cleaning up and burning old rubbish, filling holes in trees,
removing dead wood, and,in general, removing any hiding place
where the insect is likely to find a refuge from the search of the
inspectors and their men.

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6. Citizens will confer a favor by reporting at once to this office
any carelessness, discourtesy, or deviation from their line of duty
on the part of the men engaged in the work.

THE GYPSY MOTH DISTRIBUTION.

The gypsy moth is found in every ward in the city of Providence,
and in two or three places outside the city limits. Wards 2, 4, 5, 6,
8, and 9 are more or less seriously infested. The infestation is very
much greater, not only in area, but also in the number of insects
in the infested area, than was realized at the beginning of the work.
In order that people interested may learn the general details of the
work as carried out, a few words descriptive of present plans and
methods will be given.

METHODS OF FIGHTING THE PEST.

Creosoting.—The most economical and effectual work against the
gypsy moth is destroying the egg masses. It is most easily done by
painting them with creosote, to which a small amount of lamp black
or tar has been added to color the egg masses so that the treated ones
may be distinguished from those that are not treated. When the
appropriation became available, there was but very little time left
in which to apply this method; in fact, many of the eggs were already
hatching, and it soon became useless to paint the egg clusters. Only
a part of even the then known areas could be thoroughly gone over.
Another method which gives fairly good results is

Burlapping.—lIt is the habit of the caterpillars, after they become
half-grown, to feed at night and to seek some convenient shelter
during the day. Ifno such shelter is found in the trees, they descend
to the ground to hide under rubbish and other objects in the neigh-
borhood. The burlap is put on to provide a hiding place for them.
During the period in which this is effective, all the burlap should be
gone over once or twice a week, and in badly infested regions every

PLATE II,

WINTER NEstTs OF THE Brown-TaiL Morn.

After Britton, Rep. of Entomol , 1892, Conn. Exp. Sta.

9

day. The flaps are raised and the caterpillars are destroyed by
crushing, or preferably by cutting in two with a knife carried for the
purpose. To make the burlaps most effectual, all crevices, and holes,
must be filled up and other hiding places removed. Signs nailed on
trees, also wooden tree guards defeat the purpose of the burlap and
Should be taken away. Citizens can help this work along greatly
by watching the burlap bands on the trees to see that they are not
torn or blown off, and also by lifting the bands and destroying the
caterpillars if found. Everyone who is interested in trees should
learn to recognize the caterpillar, as well as other forms of the insect,
in order to know when the right one is found under the burlap,
as there are other species of much less importance that may take
advantage of this hiding place. So far as possible, tree owners should
keep track of the trees and places where gypsy moth caterpillars
may be found, and notice should be given to the inspectors when
making their rounds. IN NO CASE SHOULD BURLAP BANDS BE TACKED
DOWN OR COVERED WITH TAR, PAINT, WHITEWASH, OR OTHER SUB-
STANCE, AS THIS DEFEATS THE OBJECT FOR WHICH THEY ARE PUT ON.

Spraying.—In places where the caterpillars are very numerous,
and where danger of spreading must be guarded against, infested
trees should be sprayed. Such spraying to be efficient must be made
while the caterpillars are small. When approaching maturity they
are very resistant to poison, and only a small proportion can be
killed by ordinary spray solutions. The best poison is lead arsenate,
as this can be applied in a strong solution without injury to the trees.
‘The quantity generally used against the moth is one pound of lead
arsenate to ten gallons of water. Where lead arsenate can not be
obtained, Paris green-at the rate of one pound to 150 gallons of water
‘can be substituted. As there is some danger of burning the leaves
with this poison, it is necessary to slake two pounds of quick lime
and add the resulting milk of lime to each 150 gallons of spray mix-
‘ture.

As has been already indicated, the work so far done has shown us
that the gypsy moth infests a much greater area than was at first

10

supposed. It is evident even now that the State appropriation will
be entirely inadequate to deal with the insect, in spite of the fact that
nearly every dollar will be used in actual field operations against it.
It will, therefore, assist the work greatly if individual property
owners will do all that they can to help it along. We therefore ask
that, so far as possible, owners of trees that are so badly infested
that they ought to be sprayed should have this work done, especially
if the trees stand in yards or lawns. Street trees will be looked after
by the State commission.

Other methods are also employed, but they are of less importance
and will be taken up in a later bulletin.

ORGANIZATION OF THE WORK.

When the State appropriation became available, the park board of
the city of Providence had already placed a small fund in the hands
of Curator Davis of the Park Museum with which to fight the insects
found on trees in the neighborhood of the park, and a very large
number of egg clusters were creosoted. Fortunately, also, the services
of Edward H. Armstrong and George Johnson & Son were secured at
the beginning of the State work. These parties have made a business
of spraying and horticultural work, and have treated the gypsy moth
for private parties during a number of seasons in the past. They
were therefore well acquainted with the insect, which was quite essen-
tial, considering the necessity for immediate work, and were able to fur-
nish a number of men with more or lessexperience. It was thought
advisable to have some one thoroughly experienced in:the methods
of work and in the handling of men to devote his entire time to super-
intending the work in the field. On recommendation of Mr. Rogers,
assistant superintendent of the work for suppressing the Gypsy and
Brown-tail moths in Massachusetts, Mr. John Sweeney was engaged
for this purpose. Mr. Sweeney also comes highly recommended
by Mr. Kirkland and others. He has had ten years’ experience in
the work in Massachusetts, and was sent to New Hampshire a year

PLATE III

Fig. 2.

Explanation of Piate

Ficures Nos. J, 2, 4 AND 5 DRAWN FROM NATURE BY J. H. EMERTON.

No. 1.— Female brown-tail moth.
No. 2. — Winter web of brown-tail moth caterpillars.
No. 3. — Pruning shears suitable for removal of winter webs.
No. 4 — Brown-tail moth caterpillars, enlarged.
: No. 5. — Brown-tail moth caterpillars, natural size.
From special report on the Brown-Tail Moth, Mass., State Board of Agr., 1903.

11

ago as special inspector to assist Professor Sanderson in starting the
work there.

The men in the field are divided into groups, each group under the
charge of an inspector whose duty it is to keep track of the work and
make note of the places where the insects are found. As the men
employed in this work have to enter private grounds, it is recognized
as essential that they should be of good character. It is expected of
them that they shall be civil and courteous, and attend strictly to
the business for which they are engaged. Should anyone have cause
for complaint against any of the men, he will confer a favor by report-
ing as soon as possible to the commissioner. The men in this work
are provided with badges, and property owners are cautioned not:
to give credit to anyone representing himself to be connected with the
work unless he carries such a badge, or else a certificate from this office.

The Brown -Tail Moth.
Spe Prates II, III anp IV.

Like the gypsy moth, the brown-tail moth has four stages in its
life history: the egg; caterpillar; pupa, or resting, stage; and the
adult or moth, stage. The eggs are laid during July, on the under
side of the leaves, usually on the outside and towards the top of the
trees. The egg cluster is similar to that laid by the gypsy moth,
but it is smaller, more elongated, and thickly covered with golden
brown hairs. Each egg mass contains from two to four hundred
small, round, light yellow eggs. Occasionally these egg clusters
may be laid on the trunks and branches of the trees, and on fences,
buildings, and other objects. The eggs hatch in two or three weeks.
At first the caterpillars feed on the outer surface and do not eat holes
through the leaves. This causes the leaves to dry and look as if
scorched by fire or blight.

Unlike any other insect that we have, the brown-tail moth passes
the winter in the caterpillar stage in silken nests spun usually at the
tips of the upper branches. The building of the nest is begun soon
after the caterpillars have hatched, and it is from one to four inches
in length and from one to one and one-half inches through when
completed (see Fig. 2). It always encloses a number of the leaves on
which the caterpillars have fed, and is usually formed near where
the egg cluster was laid. When cold weather sets in, the young
caterpillars go into the nests, and remain inside for the winter. They
come out again in the early spring and feed on the young leaves until
the middle of June, when they change into the pupa stage. In about
three weeks the moths come out and begin to lay eggs, and the life
history is completed.

We have another insect, the fall web-worm, which weaves nests
that are often mistaken for those of the brown-tail moth. The nests
of the fall web-worm, however, are more loose and open, and never
contain living caterpillars during the winter time.

PLATE IV.

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13

The caterpillar of the brown-tail moth is of a dark brownish color
and covered with yellowish-brown hairs. Beside these long hairs the
tubercles along the back and sides of the abdomen are covered with
shorter barbed hairs which cause a nettling and sometimes a serious.
inflammation where they come in contact with the human skin.
Along both sides of the back is a succession of white spots or blotches
giving the appearance, on first observation, of two white lines.
Towards the rear end of the body of the caterpillar are two tuber-
cles which are of a dark orange or red color. When full grown it is
from one to one and one-third inches in length, (Figs. 4,5). Thepupa
is from one-half to five-eighths inches in length and of a dark brown
color. The moths, both male and female, are of a pure white color
with the exception of the tip of the abdomen, which has a tuft of
dark brown hair. The wing expanse measures about one and one-
third inches in the male and one and one-half inches in the female.
Unlike the gypsy moth, both male and female moths of this insect.
are strong flyers, and in this way are much more rapidly distributed
than the former insect, (Fig. 1).

The moths begin to fly at dusk, but the greater number may be
found from 10 o’clock until midnight. During the day they remain
at rest, hidden on the under side of leaves, branches, or other objects.
They are attracted to light, and in some cities of Massachusetts, where
they are plentiful, accounts relate that they are so numerous around
the electric street lights as to resemble a miniature snowstorm and
almost obscure the lights. They are often attracted to moving trains,
electric cars, and steamboats, and may in this way be carried long
distances to infest new regions. Strong winds at the time of flying
are responsible for scattering them over wide areas. They are also
distributed in the caterpillar stage by being carried on automobiles,
carriages, electric and steam cars in the same way as the gypsy
moth.

KEEP WATCH FOR THE INSECT.

It is essential that everyone should become thoroughly acquainted
with this insect in all its forms, as well as with the gypsy moth so as to

14

prevent, as far as possible, the transportation of the pests and their
propagation in new localities. If insects suspected of being the
brown-tail or gypsy moths are found within the borders of Rhode
Island, notice should at once be sent to the Commissioner for Sup-
pressing the Gypsy and Brown-tail Moths, at Kingston.

REMEDIES.

If the brown-tail moth is found when it first gets into any region,
it may be readily destroyed. The winter nests are easily seen when
the leaves are off the trees, and if these are cut off and burned there
will be no further trouble from the insect. For this work it is neces-
sary to get what gardeners call the “pole pruner”’ which is a pair of
pruning shears at the end of along pole. (Fig.3, Plate III). The cater-
pillars are also readily destroyed by spraying the trees, in early sum-
mer or after the caterpillars have hatched in the fall, with Paris green
or lead arsenate. The foliage must be thoroughly covered, and in
order to do this the spray should be applied, in the form of a fine mist,
by means of a good spray pump and especially designed spray nozzle.