The Bdd Moth. 36 



1840. Then Schmidberger recorded that in Austria the moth laid her 

 eggs in June on the fruit and leaf buds, where they remained unhatched 

 all winter, the larvae emerging as soon as the bud began to swell in the 

 spring. Although considerable was written later of the insect, nothing 

 new was learned of its habits until 1885, when Mr. James Fletcher 

 found what he believed to be the half grown larva hibernating under a 

 silken covering on the twigs. In April, 1891, Dr. C. H. Fernald 

 (Bull. No. 12, Mass. Hatch Agr. Expt.Sta.) recorded the results of 

 several years of observation upon the pest. His observations were 

 quite extensive and threw considerable new light upon the life history 

 of the insect. It was not until 1892, however, that the life history of 

 the Bud Moth as observed in New York State and in Canada was 

 correctly, although very briefly, recorded (Mr . James Fletcher's Rept . 

 as Entomologist for Dept. Agr. Canada 1891, p. 195). 



Appearance and habits of the insect in the spring . — As the attention 

 of fruit growers will be attracted to this pest by its appearance and 

 methods of work upon the buds in the spring, it seems best to begin 

 the discussion of its life history at this point. 



The insect comes from its winter quarters and appears upon the buds 

 in the form of a small dark brown larva about one-fourth of an inch in 

 length, with a shining black head and thoracic shield. The dates of its 

 appearance in this 'State varies considerably. In 1891 it appeared 

 about April 15; but in 1892 it was about May 7 before any larva began 

 work on the buds at Ithaca, N. Y., and on some late varieties of apples 

 they had not all made their appearance by May 15 . As a rule it may 

 be said that they time their appearance by the date of the oj^ening of 

 the buds . Thus the earliness or lateness of the season or of the variety 

 of the tree infested will vary the time from two to four weeks, rang- 

 ing from April 15 to May 15. 



In some cases the larva appears before the bud has opened sufliciently 

 for it to readily enter . It is then f oi'ced to eat its way into the bud . 

 Once within the bud it revels in the very tender growing leaves or 

 flower buds, tying them together with its silken threads, and thus 

 forming for itself a well protected nest, within which its destructive 

 work goes on (Fig. 4). The larva does not confine its work to one or 

 two leaves or flowers, but it seems to delight in devouring a part of a 

 leaf here or one side of a developing flower there. So that nearly 

 every leaf or flower in the opening bud is forced to contribute to the 

 greed of the little larva, thus greatly increasing its destructiveness. 



The larva does the most damaging work upon young trees or upon 

 nursery stock when it attacks, as it often does, the terminal buds of 



