194 Bulletin 176. 



long, stiff bristles on their bodies. Instead of boring througli the 

 bark they seek a crack, and an almost incredibly small one will 

 snffice." This last statement, as we shall see later, has a very 

 important bearing on the question of prev^entive applications for 

 this pest. Smith (1S98) records on this point that " Mr. AA^alker 

 states from his observations, and my own agree in this point, that 

 the young larvie may enter the bark at almost any point on the 

 trunk, and that they will try to work in very close to the egg, if 

 possible. I found several cases during the summer of burrows 

 almost immediately below the egg, well up on the trunk. But in 

 such cases the larva does not remain long and soon migrates 

 toward the base. Mr. Walker says that he has actually seen such 

 a migration and found the young larva crawling down the trunk. 

 It is possible that in this way many are killed in the very early 

 stages by unfavorable surroundings befoi*e they get to the base of 

 the tree." 



Scibits of the horers in the fall. — The young borers continue to 

 feed on the inner bark from the time of hatching in simuner or 

 early fall until they go into hibernation for the winter. We have 

 no data on the time when the borers cease feeding in the autumn 

 and prepare for hibernating. Perhaps the freezing of the soil is 

 the signal for them to begin their winter's nap. 



Numher of hroods yeai'ly. — As we began the story of the peach- 

 borer's life with it in hibernation, we have now finished its yearly 

 life-cycle. One early observer (Thomas, 1824) thought there were 

 two broods of the insect in a year, but it is the unanimous experi- 

 ence of all others that it always takes the insect a year to go through 

 its life-cycle, even in the extreme south. 



Its life-story briefly told. — In New York the moths (figures 43 

 and 44) begin to appear in the latter part of June and continue to 

 euierge until September. A few hours after emerging the females 

 lay their small, oval, brown eggs (figures 50 and 51) on the bark of 

 the trunks of the trees from six to eighteen inches from the ground. 

 From these eggs there hatches, in a week or ten days, a minute 

 larva — the young borer — which at once works its way into a crevice 

 of the bark, and soon begins feeding on the inner layers of the bark. 

 It continues to feed in this manner, gradually enlarging its burrow 

 under the bark, until winter sets in, when it stops feeding and 



