Report of State Board of Horticulture. 73 



cages with fresh blossoms on April 21, 22, 25, 29, May 4, 5, 

 8, 9; and on May 11 ten eggs were deposited. At this time 

 the petals had been off the trees scarcely more than two 

 weeks. However, no eggs or larvae were obtained on fruit 

 on the trees until June 28, when numerous eggs and very 

 young larvae were found on Ben Davis apples. In 1900 the 

 blossoms were mostly off by May 1. The first egg was seen 

 June 11, another June 14, and the first larvae June 26. It 

 appears from the above observations that while the blossoms 

 fell at various dates from April 28 to May 10, egg laying 

 rarely begins before the middle of June, and is not general, 

 much if any, before June 25. This does not hold true for the 

 dryer and warmer parts of the State, nor is it necessarily 

 true for the entire Willamette Valley. In Southern Oregon 

 and parts of Eastern Oregon, egg laying certainly begins in 

 May, and reports from various parts of the Willamette 

 Valley indicate that the date at which the first larvae begin 

 to work in fruit at Corvallis is unusually late even for this 

 section. 



THE EGG. 



The eggs of the codling moth are minute scale-like objects 

 about one-twentieth of an inch in diameter. They may be 

 likened to a very small trout scale glued to the surface of the 

 leaf or fruit. Being so small and at the same tim.e transpar- 

 ent, or with only a slight yellowish tinge, they can be detected 

 only with difficulty by those unfamiliar with their appear- 

 ance. When once familiar with them, however, and every 

 apple grower should become familiar with them, one can 

 readily find them in this vicinity at any time from late in 

 June until at least October 1, and probably later. So far as 

 my observations go, they are found much more commonly 

 upon the fruit than upon the leaves, although undoubtedly 

 when fruit is scarce they may be more abundant upon the 

 leaves. 



The duration of the egg stage probably depends somewhat 

 upon temperature. According to recorded observations, it 

 may range from four to ten days. A large number of eggs 

 were deposited in one of my breeding cages, September 5, 

 1898. September 10, the developing larvae could be plainly 



