132 STUDY OF 



then touglier leaves of spring. By the 20th or 

 25th of that month, this family will also have 

 disappeared, leaving the same unsightly memo- 

 rials of their voracity. If the grubs be suffered 

 to remain unmolested on the branches, the fruit 

 will not only be rendered tasteless, but the tree 

 will be injured for years to come. The last 

 hatches hibernate in the ground, and I have 

 ascertained that frequent digging about the trees, 

 especially in the winter and spring, has much 

 reduced their numbers. 



When I have placed the larvae in boxes, with 

 leaves of the tree to feed upon, I have always 

 found, that, on stripping off their green clothing, 

 for want of earth to retire into, they have attached 

 themselves to unconsumed leaves, or to the sides 

 or bottoms of the boxes, in a gummy envelope- 

 ment of silk, which they have spun round them- 

 selves for the purpose of assuming the nympha 

 state ; and, by placing them in warm rooms, I 

 have been able to produce them as perfect ten- 

 thredines, even during the winter months. 



The parent fly may be found in our gardens 

 on sunny days, in May and June, and occasion- 

 ally in July, making short solitary flights near 

 the gooseberry bushes, or creeping underneath 

 the leaves j and is best met with about^ten o'clock 



