THE MONTHLY BULLETIN. 621 



probosces through that part of the stem known as the boot. The main 

 stalk bearing the head was then entirely severed, this of course ruining 

 the plant for all but forage purposes. The beetle was found com- 

 monly at work in the fields, clinging to the stalk of grain, usually with 

 the head downward. 



The surrounding country is mostly covered with a heavy growth of 

 the common tule or bull rush (Spirpus lacustris), and the ground upon 

 which affected grain was growing was but recently reclaimed from this 

 sort of land. There seems to be but little doubt that the billbug breeds 

 in the roots of these tules. Their great size would preclude their breed- 

 ing in many of the smaller grasses in which the Sphenophorus develop. 

 However, no larvae or pupse were discovered. It is probable that this 

 insect will prove to be injurious only during the first year that grain 

 is grown on tule land. The destruction of the rushes would leave no 

 breeding place, and in consequence the billbugs would disappear in a 

 short time. 



THE CODLING MOTH. 



{Carpocapsa pomonella Linn.) 



Order — Lepidoptera. Family — Tortricidae. 



By Geo. P. Weldon, Chief Deputy Commissioner of Horticulture, Sacramento, Cal. 



Wormy apples and pears are of more common occurrence this season 

 than usual in sections of the State where pome fruits are grown. Prob- 

 ably the codling moth is no more abundant than it is other seasons, 

 but there is such a small crop of fruit in a majority of the orchards 

 that a much higher percentage of it is wormy. 



During seasons of light crops the codling moth is generally very 

 difficult to control, simply because there are just as many of the moths 

 to start with and only a relatively small number of apples or pears for 

 their progeny to feed upon. If there are several larvas trying to feed 

 upon the same apple, the chances are that one or more of them will be 

 successful in entering at a point unprotected by spray. The large 

 number of these fruits, wormy in the calyx end, indicates that the calyx 

 application, the most important of all in controlling codling moth, was 

 not made thoroughly or not at the proper time. This application must 

 be made before the calyx cups close, which will be scarcely more than a 

 week after the petals fall in the case of apples and a much longer time 

 with pears. Indeed, some varieties of the latter never close the calyx 

 entirely, and there would seem to be no excuse for not protecting the 

 fruit from the entrance of worms at that point. A carefully sprayed 

 orchard, if the spraying were done at the proper time to protect the 

 calyx, should have practically no fruit wormy in the blossom end. 

 Arsenate of lead, or any other good arsenical spray placed in the calyx, 

 will, in the case of the apple at least, remain there and kill practically 

 all worms which try to enter that way throughout the entire season. 



