Insect Study 



349 



and a brown, mottled and banded 



body; its wings are graced by wavy 



bands of ashy and brown lines, and the 



tips of the front wings are dark brown 



with a pattern of gold bronze wrought 



into them; the hind wings are shiny 



brown with darker edges and little 



fringes. The moths issue in the spring 



and lay their eggs on the young apples 



just after the petals fall. The egg 



looks like a minute drop of dried milk 



and is laid on the side of the bud; but 



the little larva, soon after it is hatched, 



crawls to the blossom and finds entrance 



there; and it is therefore important 



that its first lunch should include a bit 



of arsenic and thus end its career before 



it fairly begins. The trees should be 



sprayed with some arsenical poison 



directly after the petals fall, and before 



the five lobes of the calyx close up 



around the stamens. If the trees are 



sprayed while blossoming, the pollen 



is washed away and the apples do not 



set; moreover, the bees which help us 



much in carrying pollen are killed. 



If the trees are sprayed directly after 



the calyx closes up around the stamens the poison does not lodge 



at the base of the stamens and the little rascals get into the apples without 



getting a dose. (See Lesson on the Apple) . 



LESSON LXXVI 

 THE CODLING MOTH 



Leading thought The codling moth is a tiny brown moth with bronze 



markings which lays its 



The 



The pupae and cocoons of the 



codling moths. 

 Photo by M. V. Slingerland. 



egg on the apple, 

 larva hatching from the 

 egg enters the blossom 

 end and feeds upon the 

 pulp of the apple, in- 

 juring it greatly. After 

 attaining its growth it 

 leaves the apple and 

 hides beneath the bark 

 of the tree or in other 

 protected places, and 

 in the spring makes 

 the cocoon from which 

 the moth issues in time 

 The adult of the codling moth, showing the variations to lay eggs upon the 



v 



of its markings. 

 size. 



The two larger are twice natural y Oun o- apples. 

 Photo by M. V. Slingerland. ^ 



