Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1899-06-09

The Forest Tent Caterpillar.

This destructive insect which has made
its appearance in Bratteboro, and threat
ems to ravage this section another summer,
is not new pest. 1t has only been heard
of in New England and mainly in belt
of country across Vermont and New
Hampshire, for three or four years past
But for a century or more it has been
known to scientific observers as a destruc-
tive insect. 1t has ravaged orchards and
woodlands in widely separated states. Sc
we're attacks have been recorded from
Maine to Texas. 1t is an important aid in
fighting the pest to know its natural hsto-
ry and characteristics. Like others of It's
kind this insect has four stages of exist
ence-the caterpillar, the cocoon, the
moth and the egg. The eggs which will
furnish next years crop will be laid by the
moths within the next fortnight, remain
ing on the trees, or wherever they are
placed by the moths, over winter
The eggs will begin to hatch with the
first warm weather in the spring. When
first Matched the worms are only about
one-tenth of an inch long. Sometimes
they live for a fortnight, enduring rain
and cold weather, while waiting for the
young leaves to start to furnish them their
food. In the process OF their growth up
to the fullsized caterplars, as they are
now seen, they "moult,' or change their
skins four times After the fourth moult
the caterpillars are ready to enter the CO.
coon stage, which they do from the mid
die of June to the first Of July. 1t is at
the time of and just after the fourth
moult, or change of skin, that the cater
pillars are most destructive.
In forming the cocoons the caterpillars
attach themselves to leaves or other por
tions Of the trees, to the underside of clap.
boards or fence boards, and seek all sorts
Of other convenient places. The moths
emerge from the cocoons about 10 days af
ter they are formed. This is usually
about the first of July. Soon afterwards
the females deposit their eggs in masses of
| about 200 each, upon the small twigs Of
| the trees. The moths, having completed
| the cycle of life, die soon after the eggs
are laid. The eggs are deposited in solid
belt or ring around the twigs, and are COW
cred with shiny varnish which complete
! " resists the weather. While the eggs re-
main until the following spring, as al
| ready stated, the actual formation OF the
tiny caterpillars takes place within few
weeks after they are laid. The minute
but fully-formed caterpillars may be found
within the eggshells by careful eXamina'
tion any time between September and the
following April. But it is when the first
warm sunshine of spring comes that they
eat off the tips of the egg shells and come
out ready to begin their depredations OF
the tender foliage.
While their worst work is usually dont
on naples, elms and fruit trees, observers
give lists of 20 TO 40 trees and shrubs up
on which they feed when they become
very numerous. In an article printed las
week it was stated that in some places il
this state the caterpillars had literally GOV
cred trees, fences and buildings and tha
they were swept down and gathered up b!
the painful and the bushel. In some case!
trees are stripped of their leaves before i
is realized that the pest has appeared. /
is automatically stated, and a government
observer has vouched for the truth of th'
statement, that at certain place on th'
line of the Carolina Central railroad few
years ago the roadside was covered will
caterpillars so deep that railroad trains
we're brought to standstill in trying Il
90 through the mass, the driving wheel
of the engine slipping around as though
the rails had been oiled. Cases similar Il
this have been reported from other part
of the country this year.
The remedies for the pest are those sug
gested last week-to band the trees whei
the caterpilars first appear, TO gather u
and kill as many as possible, to spray tn
foliage with an arsenical preparation, an
later to search out the bands of eggs an
destroy them.
This is general history of the insect
life and depreciation. 1t is condense
from an illustrated bulletin issued by tn
New Hampshire Agricultural experimen
= station, the most complete publication o
= this subject which we have seen, and c
! undoubted reliability. More detailed in
formation can be furnished by our own eN
! pertinent station if required.