The Codling Moth. ioi 



The eggs were undoubtedly seen on the fruit by Koebele and Wier in 

 California in 1889 (Insect Life, 11. , 84), and by Wight in New Zealand in 

 1891 (Insect Life, III., 394). But none of these writers tell us how the 

 eggs looked. It is a notable fact that, after ravaging apple orchards for 

 centuries, and after undergoing the closest scrutiny by many competent 

 observers, the first picture and accurate description of the egg should not 

 have appeared in the literature until 1893. In 1892, Mr. F. L. Washburn 

 made the first careful observations upon the eggs, and his results were 

 published in 1893, in Bulletin 25 from the Oregon Expt. Station. His 

 picture of the egg is not quite accurate, but we cannot understand why 

 such important observations should have been almost entirely overlooked 

 by later writers. In 1895, the eggs were described and poorly figured by 

 Goethe in Germany. He built a cage over a small tree, and introducing 

 some of the moths, soon got eggs and recorded their development. In 

 1896, the writer, and in 1897, Mr, F. W. Card, in Nebraska, recorded 

 further observations, cjuite at variance with the commonly accepted ideas 

 regarding the egg-laying habits of this insect. 



Hoiv the egg looks. — Fortunately we were able to get some life-like 

 photographs of the eggs of the codling-moth and these are reproduced 

 in figure 131. The small whitish spots on the apples at a and b^ b in 

 the figure represent the eggs natural size, just as they were laid on the 

 fruit by the moth. At e is shown one of the eggs much magnified, 

 and es and es are pictures of the egg-shell, greatly enlarged. These 

 pictures give a good idea of the shape, size and general appearance of 

 the egg. They have been aptly characterized as resembling a minute 

 drop of milk adhering to the skin of the fruit. 



The egg is a thin, scale-like object, not quite so large as the head of a 

 common pin (it measures from .96 to .99 mm. by 1.17 to 1.32 mm.), and 

 is of a semi-transparent, whitish color, often with a yellowish tinge, which 

 is sometimes quite pronounced. Unless one has seen the eggs, they could 

 not be readily discovered on an apple ; those on the apples at a and />, b in 

 the figurC; were unnaturally whitened to bring them out in the reproduc- 

 tion. After one has become familiar with the eggs, it is a comparatively 

 easy matter to find them by turning the fruits around ; when the light 

 strikes the egg just right it can be quite readily seen. As the pictures in 

 figure 131 show, the whole surface 01 the shell, when viewed under a 

 microscope, is quite rough and is marked with an irregular net- work of 

 fine ridges extending from the edge over about one-half of the surface, 

 but not over all of the surface, as represented in Washburn's picture. 



