Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1896-09-29
prevent the germs from affecting all
the caterpillars OF q region

prevent the germs from affecting all
the caterpillars Of q region.
After the tent ca~terpillars are half
grown there may be found in MANY Of
the nests small dead specimens with
the body swollen and the skin dry and
hard. Gig. 10.) If these are placed in
bottles by themselves. a fortnight or
so later small ur-winged flies will
emerge from them. These are parasitic
ichneumon flies. They have developed
from egg placed in the young cater
pillars by similar parent flies. The
eggs Matched into grubs or larvae that
developed on the inside of the CATER
pillars. killing them and absorbing all
the bodies except the skin. Within the
latter the larvae pupated. to emerge
later as flies. We re"red many of these
parasites, which We're kindly deter
mined by Mr.. l.. o. Howard as Pimpla
inquisitor.
Comparatively few birds feed upon
hairy larvae like the tent caterpillar.
but some. like the cuckoos and blue
jays, devour them eagerly. The Eu-
ropean cuckoo is said to r%egurgitate
the mass of hairy skins swallowed with
teh caterpillars, and probably our spe-
cies have the same habit. Many OBJ
servers have noticed thai both the
Black-billed and the Yellow-billed
Cuckoos feed upon the caterpillars.
For example, Mr.. G. f.. Bailey states.
"On May 10 a Black-billed Cuckoo
came into a tree near me at 2 p M
and sat there until 4.40 p. NJ, then he
went straight TO a tent caterpillar's
.. ~ I'll #
nest. He looked 1t lei for a short
lime, and then commenced eating the
caterpillars. He picked twenty-seyen
caterpiilars out of the nest before he
stopped. The bird ate them all and did
not drop one
Mr.. f.. H. Forbush gives the follow
ing lists of birds found feeding on tent
caterpillars in a Massachusetts or
chard in 1895: Crow. Chickadee, Balti-
more Oriole. Red-eyed Vireo. Yellow
billed Cuckoo, Black-billed Cuckoo.
Chipping Sparrow, Yellow Warbler.
Other birds have also occasionally been
reported to feed upon these pests. but
birds do not do so much toward their
destruction as they do toward the de-
struction of the canker-worm. the
latter being a much more edible in
sect.
My observations upon the natural
checks upon the tent caterpillar lead
me to believe that it is not good policy
to depend upon them for subduing the
pests. 1t will be much better for the
intelligent people of eac community |
10 attempt to arouse public opinion so
That each man will destroy the cater
pillars upon his own premises and
along h adjoining roadsides.
n tent caterpillar is open to attack
IN a variety of ways. and should by
no means be allowed to injure orchards
and disfigure the roadsides as it mas
been doing recently. Beginning with
The eggs the principal remedial meas
ures may be summarized as follows:
During winter II early spring the
egg masses may readily be seen upon
the smaller branches, and are easily re-
moved and burned. In this work boys
may be employed to advantage. The
same result may to a large extent be
accomplished by cutting off and burn
ing the thickets of wild cherry thai
line the roadsides. and stand in clusters
IN pastures n fields. This should be
done after the eggs are laid, and be-
fore they are hatched-any time be-
tween September 1st and April LIST
would do.
When the caterpillars are young and
ihe nests are small. it is easy to de-
stroy the colony by swabbing it out Of
he crotch with a mass of rags. a
sloved hand, a forked stick.a scrubbing
crush. or almost anything that can be
lsed 10 crush the tiny worms huddled
beneath the tent.
a rather onmon method of DESTROY
Ing tent caterpillars is to burn them
nut by means of some substance sat
lrated with kerosene.
On many accounts there is no more
satisfactory method of subduing the
caterpillar in the orchard tina by
praying with Paris green or London
purple mixed with water. Not only is
pretty certain to kill off all the
jounS caterpillars On the trees, but it
also destroys canker worms and also
'ther leaf-eating caterpillars as well as
ne larvae of the Cooling Moth or APP
Die Worm, discussed in Bulletin So of
his station.