SUPERFAMILY TINEOIDEA 147 



attached, may be found the black head capsules and perhaps 

 also the body casts of their last moults still adhering to the 

 buttons of silk. 



Feeding, they now grow rapidly and soon set about en- 

 larging their cases. To do this they make a slit along the 

 under side and there spin a gusset or a gore of silk. They 

 increase the length by spinning on silk at the anterior end. 

 Later when the leaves have attained considerable length 

 they mine out the interior of one which they cut off and 

 attach over the gore of silk. With such additions and 

 modifications these same cases accommodate them during 

 the remainder of their immature stages. The spring feeding 

 period in the northeastern United States extends for some 

 time in the latter half of April through the first week in 

 May. 



When the larvae are full-fed they are from 4.5 to 5 mm. 

 long, brownish in color and marked with black plates on 

 the pro- and meso thoracic and anal segments. They move 

 to the bases of the short side branches or to the centers of 

 the leaf whorls and fastening the cases securely and turning 

 around with the head toward the anal opening of the sheath, 

 transform to small, black pupae. The moths emerge in 14 

 to 20 days and the life cycle begins again. 



The cigar case-bearer of apple, Coleophora fletcherella, is 

 perhaps the best known and most widely distributed of our 

 native species of leaf-mining Coleophoras. 



The native hosts of this species are the crab and the haw- 

 thorn. With the introduction of European fruit trees and 

 the extensive cultivation of orchards it has found in the 

 pear and apple favorite food plants, though it is sometimes 

 found on quince, plum, and perhaps other species. 



The eggs are almost round and minute — measuring about 

 0.31 by 0.25 mm. They are pale yellow and closely marked 

 with ridges. They are deposited on the leaves in early 



