THE PISTOL-CASE-BEARER. 



Coleophora malivorella Riley. 

 Order L^epidoptkra ; superfamily Tineina. 



Among the most interesting insects that trouble the fruit grower 

 are those known as * * case-bearers ; ' ' thus named from the fact 

 that in their destructive stage they are encased in curiously-shaped 

 suits which they wear wherever they go. One of these insects, 

 the cigar-case-bearer, has done much damage in western New 

 York orchards since 1893 ; it was illustrated and discussed in 

 Bulletin 93. During the past year another case-bearer appeared 

 in large numbers in several apple orchards in western New York 

 and proved even more destructive than the cigar-case-bearer. 

 Frequently both kinds of these case-bearers and the bud-moth 

 (Bulletin 107) worked together on the same branch. 



In 1896, many New York farmers and fruit-growers became 

 acquainted for the first time with several insects which seemed to 

 have suddenly appeared in their field crops or orchards in destruct- 

 ive numbers. The army- worm, the green fruit worms (Bulletin 

 123), and the case-bearer under discussion, are illustrations of this 

 fact. To many, these insects were new pests ; and it is a remark- 

 able fact that, although all of them have occurred in our state 

 for many years and have at times been injurious, it has been 

 nearly fifteen years since any of them appeared in sufiScient 

 numbers to do noticeable injury. 



HISTORY, DISTRIBUTION, AND FOOD-PI,ANTS OF THE INSECT. 



This pistol- case-bearer is an American insect, and first attracted 

 attention in 1877 in a large apple orchard of over 8000 trees in 

 Brie County in Pennsylvania. The owner of this orchard reported 

 that it seemed as if there was one on each bud on almost every 

 tree in the orchard ; the next year the insect was still more 

 destructive, rendering large numbers of trees nearly leafless. 

 Specimens of the insect were sent to Dr. Riley, and in 1879, he 

 published (Ann. Rept. of Com. of Agr. for 1878, p. 253) a brief 



