Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-04-20
TROUBLE FOR GYPSY MOTH
DR.. L. o. HOWARD GOING ABROAD
FOR PARASITES.
Hope to Exterminate the Insect Now
Flourishing in Massachusetts,
Are Causing Damage.

More trouble is in view for the gypsy
| moth. DR.. L. o. Howard of the Depart
| ment of Agriculture is going abroad to i'm
port parasites for their destruction. He
sailed from New York today on the st.
| Louis, and will proceed to southern Russia
where the gypsy moth and the brown-tailed
| moth both flourish and where there are
number of small moth pests that keep the
moths we'll in check. 1t will not be the
| first importation of parasites for killing
| off the moths. There was shipment made
last year and the trial worked so we'll that
the state of Massachusetts has Joined
forces with the Department of Agriculture
and will defray part of the expenses of
| the trip
The gypsy moth is not generally known
| IN the nelShborhood of Washington. 1t Is
! not very imposing looking insect but
| possesses a voracious appetite for shade
| trees and shrubbery of all sorts. 1t was
turned loose by accident in eastern Massa-
chusetts as early as 1869 and since then
mas spread slowly over part OF the state.
Inc state department of agriculture has
! been fighting it in hopeless sort of way
ana Few years ago the Department of
| Agriculture took a hand in the warfare.
1t has been found impossible to extermnate
the moth by Insecticides, and it is only
within the last year that it began to look
as though the fight would be successful.
Going Back in History.
Going back in history to the time when
the moth first escaped, the trouble may
be laid at the door of Prof. Truveluw of
Medford. He had some live moths in his
collection and they got away one day in
1869 from the window of his boarding
house and settled on tree in his yard
AfterWard there were some experiments
being carried on with the moths near Cam
bridge with view to eXterminating them.
Inc moths were confined under little mos
quito net tents put over some bushes in
yard There came sudden summer storm
and the tents We're wrecked and the moths
escaped. This added fuel to the flame and
the pest spread slowly over all of eastern
MASSACHUSETTS. Probably a quarter of the
state, from the seaboard inland is now
badly infected. But fortunately the moth
spreads slowly, much more slowly than
the cotton boil weevil. and the trouble is
stlll chiefly confined to Massachusetts. 1t
has been found in the last few years
since automobiles have come into such
general use that the machines spread the
moth more rapidly. They are carried on
the machine and the wraps of the oc-
cupants and deposited at much greater dis
tances than they would ever cover unaided
in several seasons
The Department of Agriculture has is
sued number of pamphlets of methods of
lighting the moth, one of the favorite be-
ing t. put double bands of burlap or
blankets around the shade trees to catch
the larvae when they descend in the spring.
| On Aassachusetts streets look like process
sfoifs ST CRATES WITH sore threats. But
that method of checking the spread of the
| pest is only a half way measure.
By Natural Enemies.
| 1t has been found by studying the gypsy
| moth and its near kin. the brown-tailed
moth, in their native haunts in Europe that
| they are kept in check there by a number
| OF natural enemies, ranging in size from a
| mosquito to parasites of almost miscro-
! SCOPE size. Several of them have been
experimental with and found to do well in
| TINS country where they kill as many moths
| as they do at home Collecting these coun-
ter irritant pests will be the work of DR.,
Howard while away. 1t is hoped that
100000 SEX moths and their parasites can
be collected. They will be shipped by spe-
cial mail to New York. They will be in
little special mailing cases with wire
| screened breathing apertures and with
| food enough to last them the trip They
will be placed in the cold storage
| compartment of the steamer on the
| trip across the Atlantic and on reaching
New York will be stamped with special
| delivery stamps and rushed to the depart
| ment at Washington, where they will be
gone over carefully before being turned
| porting insects that while looking for a
cure for one evil something may be found
| IN the way of a remedy that is worse than
the disease. The parasites in this instance
VII! be gone over carefully, bred and ex-
| perimented with and will not be turned
| loose until they be warranted harm
| less to anything except the moths on which
they are destined to feed.
There is another curious feature in the
| case. Many of the parasites have hyper-
parasites on them on the principle of the
old coup!et. big feas the yhave little f1eas
| upon their legs to bite 'em, and lesser f1eas
have lesser heaS, and so ad infinitum"
These parasites of the parasites will all
have to be cleaned off and the tiny enemies
| of the gypsy moth will be groomed and
curried and turned loose with the best of
| presidential precautions against race sui
eide.
Experience indicates that the parasites
will spread faster than the moth, and there
! is every reason to hope that they will
| catch up with all of the healthy moths
| that are now loose and doing damage in
| the commonwealth of Massa chusetts