Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-06-24
WEB WORM Is AT WORK
HAS BEGUN FREEZING UPON THE
cITY's SHADE TREES.
Description Of the Insect Pests-How
Citizens Can Aid Authorities
in Work Of Protection.

The insect pests that annually prey upon
the shade trees of the national capital are
beginning TO make their appearance In for.
midable numbers. and before very long the
traces of their depredations Will be in evil
dence all over the city. There Is q grain
of consolation. however. In the fact that
OF the three kinds Of insects that annually
do the greatest amount Of damage to the
trees of Washington-whfch constitute one
of the city's chief claims to beauty-only
one. the fall web worm. appears to have
made a good start. The other two, the
imported leaf beetle and the white marked
tussock moth. are apparently having. an OF
year. although 1t Is yet q trifle early to
predict with any degree OF certainty that
they will not later join the ranks OF the
invaders.
The fall web worm is in itself, however.
a serious menace to the citys plant life.
It was this caterpillar that was asso-
ciated with the tussock moth In the de-
struction Of the shade trees of Washington
during the summer of 1895. During that
year the web worm was more numerous IN
Washington than 1t had been previously
since 1886. 1t Is a typical American spe-
cies. found in the region from CANADA TO
Georgia and from Montana to Texas. and
the records of the division OF entomology
list about 100 species of shade and orna-
mental trees, as well as fruit trees. upon
In the District OF Columbia and north to
New York city there are two generations
annually of this pest, as in the case with
the even more destructive tussCck moth.
In most northern localities, where 1t Is
single-brooded. it loses its place as spe-
cies of great Importance. The term fall'
applied to the web worm Is in the nature
Of misnomer, as the insect, in Wash
inston at least, makes its appearance in
the spring and continues It's active ana
destructive work throughput the summer.
Hibernates Within Cocoon.
The web worm hibernates as q pupa
within q cocoon attached to the trunk of
it's food plant or to tree boxes. neighbor-
ing fences or to rubbish and sticks and
stones at the surface of the ground. The
moth may be either pure white or spotted
with black. It flies at night and deposits
q cluster of 100 or 500 eggs upon either
the upper or the under surface Of the leaf
These caterpiliars feed gregariously. ana
each colony spins web which may event
ually include all the leaves Of good-sized
limb, thus giving the insect Its name
Reaching full growth. the caterpillars leave
their webs and crawl down the trunk OF
the tree to spin their cocoons. The cater
pillars Of the second generation begin to
make their appearance In force In August.
Because Of the fact that the adult female
web-worm is an active f1ier. only two OF tho
remedies used against the tussock moth
caterpillars-spraying with arsenical pol
sons and collecting the cocoons-can be
used against this pest. The gregarious hab-
1t Of the larvae. however. suggested an
other remedy, which has proven practical
and efficient II thoroughly carried out. This
Is the destruction of the webs and the con-
tanned larvae. either by cutting on the
twigs which carry them and burning fmme-
diately. or by burning the webs without
pruning.
If this work be done properly and against
the early summer generation the pruning
fhoA To nd tyxA dvr{oa pu
the OF a proper torch the webs and the
caterpillars which they contain can be
burned off at nightfall without necessarily
destroying the life of the twigs. and sec
ond crop Of leaves will be put out a little
later. so that the tree does not remain dis
figured for any appreciable length Of time.
How to Destroy the Pests.
A bundle of rags wired to the end of
pole and saturated with kerosene makes
good torch for the purpose. or a porous
brick wired to pole and saturated with
kerosene has been found to answer the pur-
pose even better. Private persons should
find this remedy sufficient. but city authort-
ties can usually do better with the arsenicaI
spray. Collecting the cocoons in winter
may be carried on simultaneously with the
collection of the egg masses Of the white
marked tusSock moth.
Almost every resident OF Washington has
seen trees with bandages of cotton around
their trunks. about six feet from the
ground. and probably most of them have
believed this to be a simple and safe rem
edy against the attacks Of the insect pests.
AS matter of fact, however. 1t Is declared
TO be of no value at all in protecting the
city's shade trees against the depredations
OF the annual insect visitors. 1t is pro-
lection against certain species Of insects
which flourish abroad. but against the
white-marked tussock moth. the fan web
worm and the elm leaf-beetle 1t does not
ho fhroa ~ a1
flying insects. and do not depend upon a
journey up the tree trunks a means OF
reaching the foliage and their food.
Citizens Can Aid Authorities Greatly.
AS matter of fact. leaving aside all
community methods of protection, a great
deal can be done by the citizens of Wash
ington in protecting the trees Of the city
from at least partial destruction. The aver
age city householder seldom has more than
half dozen shade trees in front of his
grounds. and 1t would be matter Of COM
paratively little expense and trouble for any
family to keep these trees In fair condition
It needs only little intelligent work at
the proper time.
1t means the burning of the webs of the
fall web worm In May and June: 1t means
the destruction of the larvae of the elm
leaf-beetle about the base OF elm trees in
late June and July; 1t means the picking
OF and destruction of the eggs Of the tus-
sock moth and the bags of the bar worm
tn winter. and equally simple operations for
other insects should they become especially
injurious.
The experts OF the Agricultural Depart
ment believe that what q man will do for
the shade and ornamental trees in his own
garden he should be willing to do for the
shade trees ten feet in front of his own
fence.
japanese IriseA
From the Garden Magazine.
Little wonder that the iris. SO boldly
decorative in outline and bearing a flower
OF exquisite coloring no marveously formed,
should make Its strongest appeal to the ar
tistic Japanese. From these foremost
gardeners Of the world has come a strain of
irises that neither orchids nor lilies can
rival in beauty of FORM texture, coloring