THE MONTHLY BULLETIN. , 193 



more than half an inch in length and yellowish white, with dark 

 heads. The chrysalids are amber brown. 



Life History. — The eggs are deposited in the early summer and the 

 young upon hatching bore into the canes of the currants and work 

 upon the inner pith during the summer and winter, eventually destroy- 

 ing the bushes. Late in the spring the pupa; are found within the old 

 burrows near an opening through which the adult emerges, drawing 

 nearly all of the pupal case after it. The winter is passed in the larval 

 stage. 



Distribution. — The imported currant borer is limited to the northern 

 and central parts of the State and more particularly to the Sierra foot- 

 hill regions. 



Food Plants. — The young caterpillars work on the pith within the 

 stalks or canes of the currant and gooseberry, doing much damage to 

 the fruit-bearing wood. In not a few cases entire patches have been 

 rendered worthless before the unsuspecting grower was aware of the 

 real cause of the dying bushes. 



Control. — Control is rather difficult and consists in cutting out and 

 burning the sickly-looking canes as often as they appear. 



THE CALIFORNIA PEACH BORER. 



Saiijiliiuidca opalescens Edw. (Family Sesiidse). 

 (Figs. 180-182.) 



General Appearance. — The adult moths are nearly one inch in length 

 with somewhat greater wing expanse. They greatly resemble wasps 

 in coloration and shape ; the clear areas in the wings adding to the 

 deception. The color is steel blue, the fringes of the wings and 

 appendages are jet black — the legs having white tufts. The females 

 have a bronzy hue with the fore wings entirely covered with dark scales. 

 The dark-brown eggs are depressed on the sides and one end. The full 

 grown larva? are white or dusky in color with brown heads and attain a 

 length of from one to one and one half inches. The pupge are light 

 brown and are found in the bark or around the bases of the trees. 



Life History. — The eggs are always laid on the lower trunks of the 

 trees a few inches above the surface of the soil. They are arranged 

 singly or in small groups of from three to fifteen. Each moth lays 

 from two hundred to over four hundred eggs and it requires from 

 fifteen to thirty days for them to hatch. The newly hatched larvae 

 immediately seek shelter in cracks or crevices of the bark or beneath 

 the ground and at once begin to enter the trunk of the tree by boring 

 with great rapidity through the bark, or in infested orchards they 

 enter the old burrows. During the summer the young work upon 



10— H 



