Evening Republican, Volume 14, Number 203, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 26 August 1910 — The Tussock Moth. [ARTICLE]

The Tussock Moth.

The tussock -moth is so called because of its color, it being a fashion-' able shade of tussock. It flutters about upon the scented breeze, gaily laying an egg hither and yon In the foliage. Then It retires from circulation. After a time the eggs hatch out. If the moth had to sit on its eggs to hatch them it could not effect such a complete distribution. One mosquito, for instance, will lay 80,000 eggs in a day, but- 1 most of them will produce mosquitoes that immediately go to some summer resort. The offspring of the tussock moth is the tussock caterpillar, which is a slow traveler and a vegetarian. It is what entomologists call a “beautiful specimen,” but its beauty is not even skin deep. The caterpillar locates in some town where the city council does not see the need of gratifying the Idle whims of nature lovers. One caterpillar is assigned to each leaf of the vines and trees that have been raised by hand. A few days later there is no necessity of spraying the foliage, for it isn’t there. The tussock moth is our leading anti-conservationist.