New York x^gricultubal Experiment Station. 385 



Yponotneuta to Hyponomeuta^ which was adopted by Zeller, Stainton 

 and other systematic and economic writers. In Dyar's- list, 1902, 

 Busck reverted to the original orthography Yponomeuta, which we 

 have adopted. 



ATTACKS UPON FRUIT TREES; HOST PLANTS.* 



Many of the ermine moths attack fruit trees. The most common 

 and destructive species is perhaps Yponomeuta padellus L., which 

 feeds principall}^ on the cultivated plum, blackthorn (Prunus 

 spinosa L.) and hav/thorn (Cratcegus oxyacantha L.). Taschenberg,^ 

 Boisduval,'* Rebate ^ and Theobald ^ record it as attacking either 

 wild or cultivated cherries. There has been some doubt as to 

 whether padellus actually thrives on apples, but many writers 

 including Major,^ Delacour,^ Westwood,^ Stainton,^** Kollar " and 

 Ormerod ^" list this fruit among its host plants. In England padellus 

 has been generally regarded as the species attacking apple. 

 Schoyen ^^ of Norway states that padellus is the common species on 

 apples, and Bos ^^ of Holland has observed padellus migrating from 

 Crataegus to apple trees. Nordlinger,^^ Mokshetsky ^^ and Reh " 

 record the pear as one of its hosts. Other plants mentioned by 

 various writers are the medlar {Mespilus germanica L.), the Euro- 

 pean mountain ash {Sorhus aucuparia L.) and the ash {Fraxinus 

 excelsior L.). In describing conditions in Crimea Mokshetsky ^^ 

 gives the white willow (Salixalbalj.) and the spindle tree (Evonymus 

 verrucosa Scop.) as the chief host plants, and the larch and the 

 plum (Primus domestica) as less subject to attack. 



' See footnote 6 on previous page. 



^ Dyar. North American Lepidoptera, p. 489. 1902. 



' Quoted from Judeieh-Nitsche's Foist-Insektenkunde, 2: 1069. 



* Essai sur I'Entomologie Horticole, p. 574. 1867. 



5 La Chenille Fileuse du Prunier, p. 8. 1909. 



^Insect Pests of Fruit, p. 91. 1909. 



' Treatise on Insects. 1829. 



^ Essai sur les Insectes, p. 293. 1850. 



» The Gardeners Magazine, 13: 433-439. 1837. 



1" Lepidoptera Tineina, pp. 58-61. 1854. 



" Treatise on Insects, trans, by Loudon, p. 220. 1840. 



^ Manual of Injurious Insects, p. 263. 1881. 



" Ztschr. Pflanzenkr., 3: 268-269. 1893. 



" Letter of April 26, 1910. 



1^ Die Kleinen Feinde der Landwirthschaft, p. 460. 1869. 



>« The Apple Moth, p. 15. 1907. 



1' Handbuch der Pfianzenkrankheiten (Sorauer), 3: pp. 271-274. 1909. 



*The difficulty of identifying certain of the ermine moths has led to confusion as 

 to the food plants of each. This is especially true of the species padellus and 

 malinellus, which have unquestionably been mistaken one for the other, and perhaps 

 confounded with other forms of very similar appearance. 



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