The Peach-Tree Borer. 187 



found one), and pnpse may be found from this date until September, 

 probably the most in July. Add about two weeks to these dates for 

 Canada, but at Washington, D. C, and southward, some pupae must 

 occur as early as April, or even in March in the extreme South. 



In the pupa stage most of the tissues of the borer or larva are 

 built over into the moth. No food is taken, the pupa spending its 

 whole life quietly witliin the protecting cocoon ; it can move its 

 abdomen slightly when disturbed. The statements regarding the 

 duration of the pupa stage are quite at variance. They vary from 

 "a few days" (Marlatt, 1896), or "eight to ten days" (Cocke, 1813) 

 to from three to four weeks. Most writers who have recorded 

 definite data from breeding experiments agree that the pupa stage 

 of the peach-tree borer lasts about three weeks ; Ashmead (1888) says 

 eighteen to twenty-four days for Florida, Smith (1897) records about 

 twenty days for New Jersey, and Fitch (1855) found it to be at least 

 three weeks in New York, while Burrell reports it as twenty-eight days 

 for Canada. Our breeding experiments indicate that at Ithaca, N. Y., 

 the insect is in its cocoon from twenty-five to thirty days, from three 

 to five of these being spent as a larva, thus making the pupal period 

 about three weeks. Possibly it is shorter in the South, but Ashmead's 

 record would indicate that it is but little shorter even in Florida. 



The emergence and habits of the adult or moth. — When the pupa 

 is fully mature, or when the adult insect is ready to emerge, the 

 pupa uses the hard, sharp, beak-like prominence on its head to break 

 through the end of the cocoon, and then by means of the rows of 

 spines on its back, it moves or hitches itself forward until it projects 

 for half its length or more out of the cocoon, as is well shown sXj) in 

 figures 4r> and 47. This movement of the pupa out of the cocoon, 

 and the wise precaution of the borer to build its cocoon near the 

 surface of the soil, usually results in bringing the projecting pupa 

 out of the soil. Thus the adult insect or moth, which is delicate 

 and soft when it first emerges, finds itself at once in its favorite 

 element, the open air. 



At p in figure 46 is shown a pupa projecting from its' cocoon 

 ready for tlie emergence of the moth. And at j^ "^ figure 47 the 

 moth has emerged, leaving the empty pupfi^skin still sticking in the 

 cocoon ; the same thing is also seen in figure 48. The moth bursts 



