The Portland daily press., 1895-08-03
THE CATERPILLARS.
They Infest the Elm Trees, But Not so
Extensively as in Some Years.

A Description of the Pests-Two Specimens
of the Caterpillar-How to Treat Them
They Will Not Destroy the Trees.
The caterpillar pest which is affecting
the city at the present time is nothing
new to New England cities, neither is
the pest as great as it has frequently been
in former years. There are two species OF
caterpillar now present in town. The one
is the ordinary Oreggia caterpillar, the
other the large, handsome yellow, furry
backed fellow, with two black horns, and
dark line down his back broken by two
or three large yellow dots or warts The
Oreggia caterpillar is the one that is
most destructive to the foliage. The
other kind is offensive to many people,
and is the kind that is found on the sides
of houses walls and fences.
n The Oreggia caterpillars are are destruc-
tive of course in proportion to their
number. 1t will be remembered that d
number of years ago Portland trees
suffered greatly from them, and the late
Rev. DR.. Hill made the suggestion that
the trees should be girdled with bands
soaked in printers ink, which would
prevent the insects from getting into the
trees. That summer almost all the trees
were stripped of their foliage. Two years
ago the other species of caterpillar just
mentioned, swarmed in the parks. but
the Park Commissioners took good care
of them.
The Oreggeia caterpillars burrow insthe
ground in the pupa state, alternating
there until spring. When the spring
comes the male and female caterpillars
emerge from the pupa, and seek the sur
face of the earth. If the winter has been
exceptionally cold great numbers of these
little caterpillars have been killed, and
only small proportion survive to reach
the ground. If, on the contrary, the sea-
son has been mild one there is great
product of the insect.
After reaching the surface the females,
who are all wingless, by an instinct ap-
parently part of their nature, feel i'm
PEELED to get to a spot where they can lay
their eggs. This spot must be near the
feeding ground of the young caterpillars
when hatched. The male caterpillars
have wings, and they mate with the fe-
males as the latter attempt to ascend the
trunks of the trees, so as to get out on
the branches and lay their eggs close by
the leaves which are their natural food.
After the eggs are Matched the leaves
have grown to sufficient size, are soft and
succulent and the little caterpillars like
little slugs, devour their tender lining
When these young caterpillars have at
season, they spin down to tho ground,
which they burrow into, and enter the
pupa state, in their turn. The lives of
these caterpillars are short Their work
is destructive, but it does not hurt the
tree. There is enough life left in it to
recover from the ravages of the insect
because if one year they appear in unus-
uaIly large numbers the intervening
years show a great decrease. There is,
or, was, a large class of birds that de-
stroyed many of these caterpillars and
kept the pest down, in accordance with
the laws of nature, but when the delight
full English sparrow was imported for
the purpose of assisting the other birds,
he let the pests severely alone and pro-
ceeded to fight and drive away the birds
that were Of service. These caterpillers
destroy the elm leaves almost alone;
when the elm leaves are scarce they will
eat the maple, but they will not touch
tho ooI +1of
Oaks are free from the insects, and there
are not many in Lincoln Park.
All over Portland they can be found on
the elms in large numbers. The times
when they can be found in profusion are
the last week in July and first two weeks
in August. Park Commissioner Smith
says it is useless to go to work and try
and shake them out of the trees, because
they will soon come down of their own
accord to seek the ground and hibernate.
but in the spring of the year next year.
it will be wise to girdle the trees and
prevent the insects from climbing up. In
Massachusetts, very successful method
adopted has been to take strip of com
mon burlap and fasten it around the
trunk of the tree, leaving the upper part
loose and forming sort of lip to the
bandage. When the insects come to this
lip in the burIap they haven't the sense
TO try and climb over it. and they can be
ought under it's folds in great numbers.
Vice President Thompson, of the Natural
History Society, says that a girdle
smeared with printers ink and glycerine
mixed will serve the purpose admirably,
as the glycerine will not dry and pre-
We nts the thick ink from drying also.
The other class of caterpillars, those
collecting on the fences walls, and house
fronts, are not very destructive to the
leaves, and they do not go into the trees
to any extent. They lay their eggs under
the cap sills of fences and walls, behind
window blinds and wherever they can
fnd good Judgement When they get
through with their work they go into
cocoons, from which come the beautiful