166 



THE MONTHLY BULLETIN. 



Life History. — The small, white, ribbed, hemispherical eggs are laid 

 in lai'ge irregular clusters, usually upon the stems of plants. The young 

 worms begin to feed as soon as hatched and attack practically all vege- 

 tation, even burrowing into the ground and eating the roots and tubers, 

 or gnawing the bark of trees. The pupal stage is passed in the soil, 

 the chrysalis being rich brown in color and nearly an inch long. The 

 winter is passed in this stage. The adults emerge early in the spring 

 and begin egg-laying immediatel.y. 



Distribution. — This is one of the most common and important cut- 

 worms in this State, and occurs in all parts, being most abundant in the 

 central and southern districts, but is also present in great numbers 

 in the north. 



Food Plants, — As stated above, this species works on practically 

 every kind of vegetation including forage, cereal, root and truck crops, 

 flowers and orchard trees, while wild plants share in furnishing it food. 



THE POTATO TUBER MOTH. 



Phthorimwa opcrculella Zeller (Family Gelechiidse). 

 (Figs. 150-153.) 



General Appearance. — The larvie.vary from white to slightly pink — 

 the head being black. When full grown they are about one inch 



Fig. 150. — Potato tuber moth (Phthorimwa operculella Zeller). Larvae on the left, 

 cocoons containing chrysalids in the middle and the bare chrysalids on the right. 

 Enlarged. (Essig, M. B. Cal. Hort. Com.) 



