174 THE MONTHLY BULLETIN. 



one half inch long. They are exceedingly active on wing and foot. The 

 pupa is rich brown and usually enclosed in a thin white cocoon. The 

 young larvffi are white or light green. When full grown they are 

 white or distinctly reddish above and greenish beneath. The head is 

 dark as is also the prothoracic plate and the legs. They average about 

 one inch in length. "When disturbed they wriggle violently, 



Life History.^ — The writer has never seen the eggs so is unable to 

 state where they are deposited, but judging from the observance of 

 their work they are probably laid upon the bean plants and the pods as 

 soon as they are formed. As soon as hatched the young caterpillars 

 bore through the pods and begin feeding upon the beans inside, all 

 of which are usually gnawed into or destroyed before fully developed. 

 AVhen ready to pupate the larvte either do so in the pod or select some 

 other place. Very often they crawl into the ground and pupate under 

 clods or any convenient shelter. As a protection a thin white cocoon 

 is spun. In this stage some of the insects hibernate though many 

 appear as adults in late summer and fall. There is but one brood a 

 year. The adults appear in the spring about May. 



Distribution. — Most of the records concerning this pest have come 

 from the southern part of the State where it is apparently well estab- 

 lished. As early as 1885 Albert Koebele collected it in El Dorado 

 County, and it probably occurs in limited numbers in the central part 

 as well. The moth is probably of European or Asiatic origin, having 

 been imported into this county. 



Food Plants. — The beans in the pods of the small bush lima beans 

 are the favorite food for this moth, though it occasionally attacks those 

 of the large limas. This has been observed in Ventura County, but is 

 not common there. 



Control. — Early beans are the ones suffering from the attacks of the 

 caterpillars, though the latter plantings do not escape. As the bush-lima 

 is usually the only crop attacked it would be well to plant the large and 

 later varieties instead. 



