6o Journal of Agrictdiural Research voi. xiii. no. i 



Mr. Harukawa stated that the insect had been present there for about 

 lo years. He very kindly sent specimens of the Japanese insect for 

 comparison and study, and Mr. August Busck, of the Bureau of Ento- 

 mology, United States Department of Agriculture, determined it as 

 Laspeyresia molesta. The evidence seems conclusive that this insect 

 occurred in Japan before its introduction into the United States, but 

 the location of its original home is a matter of conjecture. 



FOOD PLANTS 



At first it was thought that the only plants attacked were peach and 

 the various cultivated species of Prunus, including cherry, plum, apricot, 

 and several varieties of flowering cherries, but during the past season the 

 insect was reared from quince, pear, apple, and flowering quince. It 

 attacks the quince and apple almost as readily as it does the peach, and 

 the injury caused would undoubtedly be very severe in a large planta- 

 tion. Of the pome fruits, the quince is the favorite food plant, to judge 

 from the number of insects reared from the fruit. From lo quinces 93 

 insects were reared, making an average of more than 9 to each fruit. 

 The late apples also were badly infested. Very little injury was noticed 

 on the twigs of apples, but almost every twig on the quince trees was 

 hollowed at the tip. 



DISTRIBUTION IN THE UNITED STATES 



From records at hand the insect is present only in the Eastern States. 

 In addition to the locality approximately given as the District of Colum- 

 bia and adjacent territory it is recorded from northern New Jersey, 

 New York City, Long Island, and Stamford, Conn. Doubtful records 

 come from points near Albany and Buffalo, N. Y., and from southwestern 

 Pennsylvania, but these have not yet been verified. In all localities 

 where the insect has yet been found, with the exception of the vicinity 

 of Washington, D. C, the fruit-growing industry is miimportant and in 

 some places, as in New York City, the only apparent food plants were 

 flowering cherry and flowering quince. If the infestation should extend 

 to regions where fruit is extensively grown and shipped to other parts 

 of the coimtry, the distribution of the insect would almost certainly take 

 place by transportation of the larvae, either in the fruit or in cocoons on 

 the outside. There is danger also of disseminating the insect by shipping 

 nursery stock bearing hibernating larvae. Without doubt it was in this 

 way that it first entered the country and reached the localities where it 

 is at present found. It may also spread for short distances from orchard 

 to orchard by flight, as the moth is a strong flier at dusk and in the late 

 afternoon on cloudy days. 



CHARACTER AND AMOUNT OF INJURY 



The character of injury and amount of damage vary at different 

 seasons of the year, and on different food plants. The damage resulting 



