River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1904-12-08

OF the CaterplllarS.
insect, with gold or brown tips, which
give it it's name. It's eggs, laid on the
leaves of fruit trees, are Matched in the
late summer, and soon multitude of
tiny caterpillars are to be found de-
vouring the tender foliage AS winter
approaches, the caterpillars construct
heavy webs, into which they withdraw
when cold weather arrives, and where
they hibernate until spring, when they
burst forth to complete their growth
at the expense of bud, blossom and leaf.
In June they bring their destructive
careers to an end, and few weeks
later another army of moths energies
from the cOcoons, ready to take up the
work of devastation.
The pest was brought across the water
upon some plants imported by florist.
1t made itself at home Immediately and
proceeded to propagate it's species upon
a wholesale scale. At first it confined
it's attention almost entirely to pear
trees, but as the pest increased in num-
bers, other trees were attacked.
The brown tail moth differs in it's life
history from the gypsy moth to con-
siderable extent The female brown
tail, for example, Is able to fly freely,
while the female gypsy moth, although
it has fully developed wings practically
never uses them.
The mating of the brown tail moths
takes place soon after the insects
emerge from the cocoons, early in July.
Within q fou hourc oftarmord 4ba oooc
are deposited, usually on the underside
of leaves near the tops of trees, but
sometimes on buildings or fences, and
even under the steps, making it diff
cult matter to locate the nests for the
purpose of destroying them.
AS soon as the young are Matched,
they commence feeding on the leaves
where they find themselves, when the
nests are in( trees. Little by little they
increase their feeding radius, but usual
ly return to their original home at night
The brown tail is peculiar in the fact
that the caterpillars attain only half
their growth in one season, alternating
through the winter in silken webs of
their own construction. They begin
early to weave these webs, choosing the
ends of twigs.
The interiors of the webs are found
to consist of a series Of little chambers
in which are from six to 20 larvae The
larvae, or tiny caterpillars, go into win
ter quarters during September, and
emerge again in late March or early
April, according to the state of the
season. The larva molts two or three
times in the fall and four times in the
spring. When fully developed in June,
the caterpillars are an inch to an inch
and a half in length.
The habit which the brown tail has
of going into winter quarters early each |
season is a distinct advantage to suf- |
fering humanity, for it makes much |
easier the work of determination. When |
the trees are barren of their foliage, |
the tents or webs are easily located, |
and it becomes a comparatively simple |
matter to cut off the twigs on which !
they are found or to thrust torch into |
the tree and consume the web and it's |
contents.
The webs must be burned, says e. D. |
harrington, ~ Country Gentleman. |
That alone is effective. 1t is almost
impossible, too, to be sure that all Of the
webs in given locality have been de-
stroyed. Some may have been con-
structed in out-of-the-way places, and
so escape. In that case the moths will
soon increase again so rapidly that the
whole district will be infested once
more.