442 NATURAL HISTORY OF ARTHROPODS. 



The perfect insects expand about three-fourths of an inch, and are bright ferruginous, 

 with two brown spots on the costa, and one at the end of the cell of the fore wing. 

 The hind wings are dull ferruginous, brighter towards the apex. 



The spruce Tortrix ( Tortrix fumiferana) of the United States has recently been 

 so abundant in some portions of this country as to cause a vast amount of injury to the 

 spruces and other evergreen trees. The green, oval, flattened eggs are laid in two 

 overlapping rows on the upper side of the leaves. These hatch in ten days, and it is 

 uncertain whether the caterpillars feed at all before the next spring ; but there is no 

 doubt that they hibernate either as young or partially grown caterpillars. They reach 

 maturity in the latter part of June, when they are nearly an inch in length, of a dark- 

 brownish color inclining to greenish yellow between the segments, with black heads 

 and thoracic shields, and several pale-yellowish tubercles with short hairs on each seg- 

 ment. These caterpillars spin a few threads over the leaves on the smaller twigs ; and, 

 when mature, they transform to pupae in these places. 



The moths, which expand about three-fourths of an inch, emerge in about a week, 

 and are of an umber-brown color, the fore wings being marked with whitish or light 

 gray. There is considerable variation in the color of the fore wings, many examples 

 inclining more or less to rust red instead of umber brown. 



The codling-moth ( Carpocapsa pomonella) occurs wherever apples are grown. In 

 the colder latitudes there is only one annual brood, but in warmer climates there are 

 two. The females lay about fifty eggs, but seldom more than one on a single fruit, 

 the eggs being deposited in the blossom-end of the apple, when it is just 

 beginning to form. The eggs hatch in a short time, and the young 

 caterpillars eat their way in to the core, where they remain feeding for 

 Fin. 56i. Cod- about three weeks. They are then nearly an inch in length, of a dull 

 whitish color with pale yellow heads, and a few short hairs over their 

 surface. They escape through the sides of the apples, and conceal themselves beneath 

 the bark, or in some other protected place, where they spin tough, whitish cocoons, and 

 remain in them in the caterpillar state during the winter. In the spring they transform 

 to pupa?, and the moths emerge in season to lay their eggs upon the young fruit. 

 Although the caterpillars are among the most common and destructive, yet the perfect 

 insects are seldom seen, as they fly only at night, and are not attracted to light. They 

 expand a little over half an inch, and the fore wings are gray, with dark, wavy lines, 

 and a bronze spot on the outer margin. The hind wings are brown. 



The PYRALID^E comprise a large number of insects, which are quite generally dis- 

 tributed over the world. They usually have slim bodies with long legs, but there are 

 many exceptions to this. Both labial and maxillary palpi are present, though the 

 latter are sometimes very minute, or represented only by a tuft of hairs concealed 

 behind the others. There are three principal groups : the Crambinae, the Phycinae, 

 and the Pyralinae proper. The fore wings are broad in the first of these ; and, when 

 the insects are at rest, they are closed so as to form a triangle over the body. In 

 the other groups they are long and narrow, being folded closely around the body. 

 The hind wings are very broad in all the groups. 



The Crambinae contain a large number of species many of which are grass-feeders, 

 while some are borers in the stems of corn, sugar-cane, etc. The genus Crambits 

 includes a large number of species, which are quite uniformly distributed over the 

 globe. They feed on the grasses, so far as known, and sometimes become so abundant 

 as to do a great amount of damage. 



