The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1911-03-24
BROWN-TAIL MOTH
 IN CONNECTICUT
Habits of Pest and How to Control Nuisance - Re port of State Entomolo- gist w. E. Britton.

Dealing with the brown-ta moth in Connecticut, the tenth report of State Entomologist W. E. Britton for 1910, as included in the report of the Con- necticut Agricultural Experiment Sta- tion. shows that although previous in formation had been given in regard to the pest up to 1910 there had been no appearance of the moth in Connecticut, all reports to the contrary notwith- standing.
 Newspapers here and there had re- ported it's descent upon vegetation within the State, but an investigation up to this time succeeded in showing the insect to be some other than the genuine moth Richard Barton Of Thompson, made first discovery of the pest in this State on April 6, 1910. lie forwarded specimens of the dead cat erpillars and their nests together with letter to the experiment station.
 The information came at a very busy period and at a time when all the men were employed in looking over import ed nursery stock. On May 4, B. H. Walden and A. B. Champlain, repre- sentatives of the department, visited the place designated and found the of E. s. Backus. Tn all about twelve nests were found, including those in nearby yards and one nest was found at a distance of some 800 feet from the location of the first one.
 Apple, pear and cherry trees were examined along the road toward Rhode Island, for about one-third of a mile and no nests were found. Trees were then examined for about mile in the direction of the Massachusetts line, but, owing to the fact that the trees were so thick with leafage and blossoms there was difficulty in dis covering nests The trees in Thomp- son were sprayed few days after with a solution of arsenate of lead.
 Professor George H. Lamson, Jr., of the Connecticut Agricultural College at Storrs received two full-grown cat erpillars about month later which were handed him by J. H. Osgood of Putnam who found them on trees on his premises. NIT. Walder visited the town with the idea of ascertaining the extent of territory infested, rather than to attempt to find out the num- Der of trees ravaged.
 D. M. Rogers. special field agent in the bureau of entomology, reported in November and gave information that i his men, scouting in Thompson, Put name and Pomfret, had discovered the pests there.
 In Putnam the nests were rather abundant on the fruit trees and in the yards. These infestations are prob ably on the edge of the territory gen orally infested. which has nearly reached Connecticut for two years in both Massachusetts and Rhode Isl and
 The scouts of MT. Rogers also found the pest in Wilbraham, Mass. and probably the infestation extended all
 the way to Putnam. It was the idea 10 do scouting all along the State
 line from Thompson westward and southward to Long Island Sound. The report indicates that although it will be impossible to eradicate the brown-tail pest as can be done with the isolated colonies of the gypsy controlled and is not such a serious menace to vegetation as the latter. al- though very troublesome to human beings on account of the poisonous hairs that break off from the cater pillars.
 Describing the appearance of the moth, the report says that both sexes have the same color and markings, but the male is less in size than the l female and has a more slender ab- domen. It has two pairs of wings of pure white. and the thorax and part | of the abdomen are of the same color but the rear end of the body bears a tuft of brown hairs which are rubbed off the female in the process of egg | laying and incorporated with the eggs and give the egg-clusters reddish brown color
 The ferale has a wing expansion of one and one-halt inches while that of the male is about one and one- fourth inches. The male has feather ed attenae, tinged with brown and the fore wings are edged with brown on