Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1886-07-31
CITY AND DISTRICT.
Birds. Caterp,IIars. Moths and the Like

l.
Rirts. CaterpjiIRrs. Moths and the Like.
To the Editor Of The EVENING STAR
Within the past four weeks several eommuni
cations have been made to you, some of which
are worthy of notice. in regard to the caterpil-
lars on our shade trees. As Tho first which
have seen, subsequent To- mine which you pub
lshed on the 3Oth of June. il reply TO mine.
will give IL the first attention. as. I. W" in
your paper of the 9TH is made very angry by
my letter, so he says and will not have his
trees rid Of caterpillars upon receipt OF an OFF,
cial notice. In case "A regulation such as the
one suggested were made by Congress or the
Commissioners -. L. VS. Willingness might
safely be- left for discussion To the distinguished
author and Judge Smell. The facts referred TO
by this author and others in regard To the reIa-
tions between insects and iusectiyOrous birds
are only OF Importance in this particular con-
nection so far as they show that the web-wOrm
aud tussock-mOth are not attacked To any ap-
probable extent by 1nsectiVeTOus birds, and
therefore that the protection OF insectiVerous
birds would not be of any sential service in
the warfare against these insects
Your correspondent W. in the same paper,
takes u sensible view of the matter, and
says he has practised the method suggested
having In previous years destroyed every nest
on every tree around his premises and crushed
the lie out OF every young worm He properly
refers To the circums taHce that tine work OF cut
ting on the nests was begun by the city author
fortunately, one OF those persons who have not
yet gotten over the delusion in regard To the
tfees OF yermin.
bourgeois July - pins his faith to the
other birds that would return at the sparrows
were killed OIL With "a few exceptions, how
ever, these birds would not disturb the partIcu-
Lar insects with which the trees now In
Tested These insects are especially protected
by their irrItant clothing OF hair and can only
be COPIED with effectively by the direct action Of
man.
j will not attempt to enter here into the
broader question OF the degree to which the
killing of brightly pumaged birds affects the
int ~. ,t yaf. inn
IL VI. NJ. communicates some Interesting
observations in your paper OF July 18th, upon
= very active ny which deposit Its eggs upon
the body of the caterpillar and calls upon some
OF our professional entomolUgists TO tell US all
about 1.-THE manner of development OF the
egg and the effect on the caterpillar. L. NJ
NJ, however, hardly needs To- call in the help
OF Others in this Case. for he has told the most
essential facts when he says the fly makes Oh
the caterpillar the '.hatchiug house, nurse and
food vi its offspring. i am not aware that the
particular species of fly which attacks the web
worm ha, ever been identitied. buf in all prob
ability IL belongs To the extensive family OF
tachinida, or else TO the related family OF
flesh flies, called sarcophagide. With the help
OF these names IL. NJ. NJ can ind what the
books say about the habits of flies Of these
families.
The suggestions by "E. E. NJ" are of the
utmost Importance. He advises all occupants
Of houses 10 examine the interior OF their tree
boxes and the under side OF their front steps,
window siIls projecting ueit, courses etc, where
they will nnd the cocoonS OF the caterpiiIars
Destroy them with the end OF poker, cane or
stick. Each COCOON destroyed now Will be
equal To and better than the destruction OF two
hundred caterpiliars OF the coming brood, and
the foliage OF our handsome trees will thus be
preserved
The perfect form or moth of the two principal
kinds of insects which are infesting our trees
now coming forth from their cocoons, and
have been doing 50 for some time past, and are
laying the eggs IOr new broOds. The web-worm
caunot be fought we'll In the egg state. The
cocoons can be crushed, with the insects in them
whenever they are found. After the moths have
come out they may be crushed, but " Ill not often
be seen. They are pure white in color, and not
readily coniOunded with any other kind OF
moth to be found at this time. These insects
must be opposed principally in the caterpillar
state, and what said III my letter oil the 3Uth
OF June will he applicable again, namely, that
they begin their lives as colonies, each upon ii
single leaf, under which they feed ON the green
substance OF the leaf They then extend the web
10 enclose another leaf and SO continue feeding
always under shelter. At this time, therefore.
they may be destroy ed by plUcking OFT the leaf
or leaves upon which they are, and burning or
crushing them upon this or throwing them into
hot water. As the webs increase In extent this
process becomes more difficult, and involves
continually greater Inutilation OF tue trees.
When the caIerPiiIars are about halI-grown
they abandon the webs and scatter over the
neighboring vegetation. after which they eau
only he fought individually or by poisoning the
vegetation generally.
The Tussock moth can be fought best in the
egg state. The female moth never leaves the
COCOON in which she has transformed. When
She reaches her final form, in which she lays
her eggs, she crawls out upon the outside OF the
cocoon and there deposits two three hum
Cred eggs, which she covers with a froth-like,
DTltIle secretion tnal is Oh Il pure white color
and makes the mass of eggs very conspicuous.
This mass OF eggs should De removed from the
tree and thrown into the fire. As the females
closely confined To their Individual place
Oi growt tn each householder may "a great eX-
tent prevent the ravages of the caterpiliars in
the neig h bOrhOod OF his house by removing the
eggs from the trees there.
The caterpillars OF both species travel freely
In the latter part of their lives, and the moths
OF both sexes OF the web-worIn Fly freely, but
the remedies suggested will be practically elfi-
cacious u prevents conspicuous damage
observer, N your paper OF July 18th, in
Quires the maine oil "a bu., which sucks the juices
Ci the cateIpiilssrs- have very little doubt she
Saw the young of the common "wiieel-bu.'
TeduNius noVenarius, the habits OF which
described in the report OF the United states
commissioner of agriculture Tor 1875, pages
12S-l29, as well as III many earlier and later
publications
viii the writers whom / have mentioned
above have the kindness to- let me kIFow, by
letter or postal card, their fun names? ! signed
my name III iUll 10 my former communication,
but the editor gave only the Initials.
b. IISkHAN MANN.