igi2 



The Cornell Reading-Courses 



Fig. 1 1 8. — Mature apple, show- 

 ing scar of wound made by 

 fruit-tree leaf-roller when the 

 fruit was small 



hatching is practically complete. The young caterpillars are about 

 one-twenty-fifth inch in length and of a light green color with a black 



head and a black thoracic plate just behind 

 the head. They bore into the opening buds 

 and feed on the expanding leaves, which 

 they web together to form a loose nest. As 

 soon as the blossoms fall, the partly grown 

 caterpillars attack the fruit, first devouring 

 the calyx lobes and then eating large irregu- 

 lar holes in the young apples. It is to the 

 fruit that the chief injury is done, though 

 frequently many buds and much of the 

 foliage are destroyed, and in a number of 

 cases large orchards have been completely 

 defoliated by this insect. The most severely 

 injured apples soon drop from the tree ; those which are not so badly eaten 

 mature but are knotty. 

 The woimds made by the 

 caterpillars heal over, 

 leaving large, brownish, 

 corky scars, which render 

 the apples misshapen and 

 unmarketable (Fig. ii8). 

 The scars caused by the 

 leaf roller are, as a rule, 

 deeper than those made 

 by the green fruit-worm. 

 The caterpillars become 

 full-grown in about three weeks, at which time they measure about 



one inch in length and are of a 

 light green color with head, legs, 

 and thoracic shield varying from 

 brown to black (Fig. 119.) They 

 then transform to brown pupse 

 (Fig. 120) within a rolled leaf 

 (Fig. 121) and in about ten days, 

 or early in June, the moths emerge. 

 These insects have a wing expanse 

 of from three-fourths of an inch 

 to one inch. The front wings are 

 mottled with various shades of rich 

 brown and yellowish white. Some are much darker than others, and 

 the distinctness of the markings varies considerably (Fig. 122). 



Fig. 119. — Full-grown leaf-roller caterpillar 



Fig. 120. — PupcB of fruit-tree leaf -roller 



