128 



ELEMENTARY STUDIES IN INSECT LIFE 



have shown that the eggs have been laid upon the twigs 

 as well as upon the apple. In a few clays, dependent 

 11 pun the character of the weather, the egg hatches, and 

 I lie young worm seeks its first meal. It wanders about 

 npon the surface of the apple until it finds some an- 

 gular place like the blossom end, or where a leaf of the 

 tree touches the surface of the apple. Generally the 

 worm crowds in between two of the calyx lobes, and 

 gels its first meal within the little cavity at the blossom 

 end. Note the fact that in the majority of cases this 

 little worm gets its first meal in the blossom end of the 

 apple. And here it spends several days feeding around 

 in the calyx cavity before it mines to the center of the 

 apple. These first few days of the apple worm's life, 

 which are usually spent in feeding in the blossom end 

 of the apple, have proven to be the most vulnerable 

 phase in the life of the insect, It is during this time 

 that, it can be killed by the poisonous spray to be spoken 

 of later. 



You are all familiar with the appearance of the 

 worm-hole in the apple and the bits of brown dust 

 around the margins of the hole. When the caterpillar 

 is ready to leave the fruit it pushes away this dust, 

 and crawls out, leaving the open worm-hole; when one 

 has a wormy apple in hand, it can be easily told by 

 the absence or presence of these pellets of dust whether 

 the worm is still within the apple or not. If the fruit 

 has fallen to the ground, the caterpillar proceeds to 

 crawl to some secure and suitable place in which to 

 make preparations for becoming a moth. It seeks a suit- 

 able place to spin its cocoon, in which to undergo its 

 further transformations. Some go to trunks, large 



