43 



by it. It is indeed a dangerous species and one that at any rate 

 should not be encouraged in our houses and warehouses. 



The Hyponomeutas — commonly known as " Small Ermines " — 

 form a compact genus, represented in this country by some six or 

 seven species. Some of them are so much alike as to have led to a 

 good deal of confusion, and whether we have the true apple species 

 Jrl. malinella, Z., or whether the hawthorn species has taken to the 

 apple is uncertain. Be that as it may, the two species are so much 

 alike both in their appearance and habits that for our present 

 purpose the question is one of so little importance that it may be 

 ignored, and we may assume, pending further information, that H. 

 padella, L., the hawthorn feeder, is the species that also attacks our 

 apple trees. 



H. padella is a pretty little moth with whitish-grey wings 

 sprinkled with minute round black dots and a white head, and 

 measures about three-quarters of an inch in expanse. It is on the 

 wing in July and August. It deposits its eggs in a little patch on the 

 branches of the tree, and covers them with a glutinous substance, 

 which soon becomes so near the colour of the branch that it is dififi- 

 cult to detect. The eggs soon hatch, and the tiny larvae shelter 

 during the winter in the "tent" formed by the empty egg-shells and 

 such debris as may have collected about them. In sprmg, as soon 

 as the buds begin to open, the larvae ascend the twigs and feed on the 

 blossoms and young leaves, and shortly commence to construct a 

 web, in which the whole brood assembles, enlarging it from time to 

 time as necessity requires, and devour the leaves of the tree. Thus 

 not only is present damage caused by the blossom being eaten, but 

 the vitality of the tree is impoverished by the loss of its leaves. No 

 doubt many of the winter " tents " are destroyed by tits, and several 

 species of ichneumons are parasitic on the larvae, but if we would 

 be rid of the pest the only effectual method of dealing with it is to 

 hand pick the trees and destroy the webs with the larvae in them. 



H. cnrpiatflla, Hb. [ = etionii»tella, Scop.), a slightly larger species 

 measuring nearly an inch in expanse, has pearly-white wings with 

 small but very distinct black dots. Its natural food is the spindle- 

 tree f Kiioni/Diits eiiropaeiis), but it has taken only too kindly to the 

 cultivated species of our gardens, often greatly disfiguring our hedges 

 of Kiion)/)nus japnnicus by its webs. Its economy is similar to 

 that of H. padella and the remedy for its attacks the same. 



ILevonyniella,\j.{=padi, Z.), feeds on bird chewy {I'nninspadiis), 

 but I have no record of it having troubled our cultivated cherries. 



Coleophora anatipennella, Hb., a little white species of just over 

 half an inch in expanse, whose larva lives in a pistol-shaped case, 

 which it carries about with it wherever it goes, is said to damage apple 

 and cherry trees by feeding on the buds in spring." Under natural 



9 P. J. Fryer, " Insect Pests and Fungus Diseases," p. 71. 



