Montana oil and mining journal. [volume] (Great Falls, Mont.) 1931-1953, 1936-07-25

TepidOpterOus insects. That is
What the books call those things.
But the James Doyle family, on
Three Mile road, has better
name. You'll have to ask them.
Anyhow, they are a common var
ieGy of wOrm-the kind yOu go
0ut in the garden and eat when
you get all angry with everybody.
Yes Butte has 'em.
It's q minor inteStation Of cater
pillars or web-Worms that laid seige
on the home of Mrs. James Doyle
and family, Three Mile Unless they
are destroyed, and it doesn't seem
that they will be, Butte is in danger
OF an epidemic" Of moths within
q short time.
Marching-or rather crawling-in
hordes, the insects made a mass
attack from their trenches a
slough a short distance from the
Doyle home. They made a clean sweep
Of their first objective every
green thing in the Doyle garden.
Then they started looking for place
to lay an egg or two and invaded the
Doyle domicile.
Yesterday turned out to be-com-
paratively speaking-a day Of big
game" hunting, with plenty OF game
for James O,Brien and Glenn Car
ney, county health officers, who were
summoned in the emergency. They
spent most of yesterday, with spray
guns, in an assault on the worms.
Meanwhile, the Doyles moved out
for time. The state board of health
sent DR.. B. K. Kilbourne of Helena,
collaborating epidemologist, into the
field to make an examination He
stated that the insects originated
from moths and will return to that
stage.
GThis information did not seem to
give the Doyle family much comfort,
however. The worms continued to crawl
up legs, arms, the back Of neckS and
on every other crawling surface0
1t was recalled that swarmS of moths
we're carried into Butte by windstorms
that preceded the heavy rains Of
month ago. 1t is believed, by entomol-
ogiSts, and borne out by textbooks on
the subject, that the moths deposited
their eggs in the slough with the re-
suit of the caterpillar invasion.
Two members of Butte newspaper
staff spent two hours pouring through
books on bugs, but they could find no
explanation for the singular activity
Of the worms as explained in the fol-
lowing paragraph. oddly, they could
not find much else pertinent to the
case).
Only one other place IN the vicinity
Of the Doyle home has detected any
OF the worms. That dwelling is APP
proximately a half-mile away and the
caterpillars, in small numbers, con-
fined their operations to the barns
away from the home proper.
After their assault on the garden,
the caterpillars swarmed over the house
began to spin webs and otherwise make
themselves at home, and were in such
numbers that the family spent prac-
tica1ly three days in their yard.
The garden hose was used profusely
IN trying to wash away the insects,
but they rather seemed to enjoy a /
bath. 1t was not until a day or so
later that an insect spray was put into
use, and so many of the worms were
killed they lay carpet-like on the
porch and ground.
Members Of the household, in walk I
ing around, proceeded with care IN
fear Of losing their footing. The floor
was greasy with Squashed worms. While |
they crawled on members of the family /
and visitors who came to witness the /
assault, the worms apparently were not |
In search of food in the form Of human
flesh. No one was bitten. This Is de-
Quoted they are not omniverous.
A textbook on "Caterpillars and
Their Moths" states that the cater
pillars are formed from the eggs of /
moths and that the caterpillar's func-
ton Is to eat and grow strong and when
the time comes, cocoonS are spun and
the worm metamorphoSeS into the
moth stage to lay more eggs. The text
book goes on and on for $4,000 words.