New-York tribune., 1908-07-19
STAY OF MOTHS SHORT
Inother White Winged army Not
Erpected for Trenty Years.

DR. Edmund B. southwfcx tn. city entcmoosist
smiled last ni9ht when asked whether lovers OF the
city Sfees had for alarm in the several days
uttering visitation OF the millions Of satiny white
moths
The moths have been more numerous than usual
this year." answered DR. Southwick, but they VIII
all be gone In two three days We shall prooa-
bly, not have many OF the white winged army
with US again for twenty years. They will do no
damage to speak Of. and think they pretty. il
you want to know
During the last year. said DR. Southwick. all OF
the street trees IN Manhattan and Richmond have
been put under direct supervision Of the city
entomolosist. IN addition to the parks, IN which
there about seventeen hundred acres The street
trees number about thirty thousand Of which
10 300 were cleaned. under the direction Of Dr.
So,thwick during Last winter
THE trees in our parks and along streets
have never been in as fine condition as they are
this year." he said. with the exception OF
few large trees IN Central Park and In stuyvesant
Square which, for want OF sufficient tree climbers.
were not properly cleaned during the winter Inc
few trees In Central Park. however thaf were
partly defoliated again In full Foliage. ana
will present better appearance In the autumn
than they would II they had not been defoliated-
The tuSsock moth while 1t makes a tree look
di1apidated for weeks after its first ravases'
does no permanent damage, and the tree entreN
RECEIVERS its foliage
There I. no city in thi. vicinity. according to Dr.
X.
to It's tree. as New York City, from the BATTERY
to Spuyten Duyvil-'
The elm span-worm Is the name by wnieh tne
insect that has been making night white IN ,nis
city Is know to entomologists- This insect Is
widely spread" said DR.. Southwick- II have OBJ
served 1t In the forests OF Northern Maine IN
August and IL Is common IN the Middle States
The eggs are deposited by the female moth toward
the beginning of July. not only on trunks and
branches OF early leafng trees. but on numerous
to N
irregular clusters During this period they are
about the size of small pins head conical In
form and somewhat compressed at their points;
first of a yeIIowish then of light olive green and
later of dark brown They covered with
thick sticky gIutinous matter. and adhere strongly
to the object on which they are deposited.
.sTbev ara usually found the under sides OF
branches and almost always below the connect
ing points apparently for their better protection
and with the desire OF opening several avenues TOT
the young brood to find subsistence. The number
Of eggs generally decreases from the base OF the
branches toward their extremities. In this state
the eggs remain unaffected by rain or frost. SEEM
ingly unchanged until the time when our snade
unfold their first leaflets, which Is usually De-
tween April Is and May Is.
Little caterpillars then creep from these eggs
and carefully hide themselves under the young
foliage for protection cold and' stormy days
Here find them crowded together in countless
until, after brief period, they engage in
their work of destruction. The young caterpfllars
always creep toward the extremitfes Of the
branches led by their instinct to fnd there. first
Of ALL the means their subsistence. and make
a retrograde movement only II they meet with an
obstacle. They then devour the young foliage as
quickly 1t develops. For their perfect develop
ment the caterpillars need from i've to six weeks.
during which period they sometimes eat daily more
than ten times their weight
After the caterpillar is fully developed II enters
its chrysaIis state When ready to be metamor-
phosed 1t selects a safe place of refuge. either In
the leaf remnants on the trunks and branches OF
the trees-on fences. railinss. lamp posts or al
most anything it happens to reach
THE caterpillar closely resembles the twfzs Of
elm trees on the leaves of which it mostly lives
the body being brown while the head and terminal
segment Of the body are bright red
1t is on record that 1000 fertised eggs were
moved from a single small maple IN Brooklyn
some years ago.