A City Under Siege by Caterpillars

Local citizens are worrying over their shade trees, which are being eaten by millions of caterpillars, creating a serious question as to how to exterminate them. Scarcely an inch long, the peaky little worm comes by the millions, strips each tree and branch of its leaves and harnesses them with cobwebs. Trees, vines and shrubbery are in many cases completely denuded. In the city, handsome shade trees have been ruined for the season by the pest. In the country, fruit trees are ruthlessly stripped, particularly apple, pear, plum and quince. Thus far, the usual methods of exterminating insects have failed, and caterpillars are on the increase instead of decline. The most common theory is that this is owing to the decrease in the number of sparrows which naturally feed on caterpillars.