200 ORCHARDS. 



same individual. These active worms perfect themselves in 

 the Spring as well as those which had not been disturbed; 

 and this fact would indicate that the torpid or dormant state, 

 so called, is not essential to the well being or the prolongation 

 of the life of some insects. 



Though the Codling moth prefers the apple to the pear, 

 it nevertheless breeds freely in the latter fruit, and I have 

 myself raised the moth from the pear-boring larva, and the 

 fact was recorded many years ago by the German entomolo- 

 gist, Kollar. It also inhabits the fruit of the crab-apple and 

 quince, and is not even confined to pip fruit, for Dr. T. C. 

 Hilyard, of St. Louis, bred a specimen, now in my cabinet, 

 from the sweetish pulp of a species of screw-bean which 

 grows in pods," and which was obtained from the Rocky 

 Mountains, while Mr. Wm. Saunders, of London, Ontario, 

 Canada, has also found it attacking the plum in his vicinity.* 

 This is entirely a new trait in the history of our Codling 

 moth, and is another evidence of the manner in which certain 

 individuals of a species may branch off from the old beaten 

 track of their ancestors. This change of food sometimes 

 produces a change in the insects themselves, and it would not 

 be at all surprising if this plum-feeding sect of the codling 

 moth should in time show variations from the normal pip-fruit 

 feeding type. As Mr. Saunders is a well known entomolo- 

 gist, it is not likely that he has been mistaken in the identifi- 

 cation of the species, for the only other worm of this charac- 

 ter which is well known to attack the plum in America, is 

 the larva of Mr. Walsh's plum moth (semasia prunivora), 

 which is a very much smaller insect than the Codling moth. 

 Mr. Saunders says that his plum crop suftered considerably 

 from this cause, and that the operation appeared to be per- 

 formed by the second brood, the plums falling much later 

 than those stung by the curculio— remaining, in fact, on the 

 tree till nearly ripe. I do not think that this insect has yet 

 acquired an appetite for the plum in the States. As a gene- 



* Report of the Commissioner of Agriculture and Arts, of the Pro- 

 vince of Ontario, for the year 1868. 



