47 



pellets held together by a slight web. The larvae also work at the base 

 of the leaves, usually concealed beneath the flimsy webs in which is 

 mixed pellets of excrement. The larva is light brown and nearly half 

 grown at the time the first leaves are unfolding. When insects are 

 fairly abundant practically every terminal will be hollowed out or 

 entirely eaten. This feeding sets back the tree until a new set of 

 buds has put out. 



There are apparently two full broods, and possibly a third brood, 

 of this insect during the year. The larvae live over winter in silken 

 cocoons at the base of the buds. In early spring, possibly by April 15, 

 the young larvae begin to bore into the buds, and later into the shoots 

 as the leaves are unfolded. At College Park the larvae are possibly 

 half grown by May 1st. The first pupae have been found outside on 

 May 28th, but doubtless pupation takes place about the 15th as adults 

 are found commonly from the last of May to the first week in June. 

 A second lot of full grown larvae appears upon the tree about July 16. 

 These larvae frequently web together leaves upon which they feed. A 

 second' lot of pupae occurs around the 20th of July and adults begin 

 to emerge by the 29th. The pupal stage is somewhat short at this time, 

 the minimum observed being' five days and the average about ten days. 

 It is possible that a third brood may occur under favorable conditions 

 as the total life cycle does not average more than forty days. In that 

 period, in any event, eggs are, no doubt, laid by the second brood and 

 the larvae feed for a time and then spin up in their winter hibernacula 

 at the base of the buds. 



The control of this insect may be effected on small trees by col- 

 lecting the larvae from the withered shoots and destroying them. 

 Spraying witli arsenate of lead when the buds are first beginning to 

 unfold will undoubtedly check the pest. A second application should 

 take place about July 15th and a third application during the second 

 week in August. 



'&• 



The Pecan Bud Moth 

 The larva of this moth is a pale green worm which bores into the 

 unfolding clusters of leaves in the early spring. It begins its work 

 after the shoot borer starts to feed. During the latter part of the 

 season it develops on the foliage. This insect probably lives over winter 

 in hibernacula on the tree. Eggs have been found as late. as October 



