44 



conditions the larva feeds on apple, pear, blackthorn, etc., and no 

 doubt the cultivated apple and cherry would not come amiss to it. 

 It leaves the egg in autumn, feeds for a time on the leaves and then 

 attaches itself probably to some woody part of the tree to pass the 

 winter. With the advent of spring it becomes active again, and it 

 is at this period of its life that it may do damage by feeding on the 

 buds, and in cases where the species becomes very abundant the 

 damage caused by it to our orchard and garden trees may be 

 considerable. 



Blastddacna hellevella, Dup. [ = atra, var. y, YLduV^.—putripennella, 

 Zell. = fl^ra, Meyrick), has also been credited with being 

 destructive to apple trees. ^° This, however, appears to be an error 

 due either to mis-identification or confusion of names. So far as is 

 known B. Iiellerella confines its attention to hawthorn berries, but 

 there is a nearly allied species that affects apple trees, viz., B. 

 atra, Haw. { = vuiolentella, H.S.), which from its method of feeding is 

 calculated to do considerable damage, when abundant, as its larva 

 bores into the pith of the young shoots and is said to be more 

 particularly addicted to attacking the young and tender trees and 

 nursery stock. It is a slightly smaller species than C. anatipennella, 

 and its wings are almost entirely blackish-grey, relieved only by a 

 few whitish scales near the apex. 



Lampronia riibiella, Bjerk,, is a destructive little species with 

 bronzy-brown wings, on which are four small yellowish-white marks 

 on the costa and two larger ones on the inner margin, and it 

 measures just under half an inch in expanse. It flies in June and 

 lays its eggs in the flowers of raspberries. The young larvae feed 

 for a time about the base of the fruit and then retire to some secure 

 place, such as the stem of the canes, for hybernation. In spring 

 they attack the buds, boring into them and then into the pith of 

 the shoots, eventually killing them." The species is fairly common 

 throughout the South of England and in Ireland, and I have 

 specimens from as far north as the shores of the Moray Firth. It 

 is undoubtedly capable of doing a great amount of damage, but if 

 we carefully destroy all old canes and stakes in autumn and dig the 

 ground in winter, as we should do, it is unlikely that our raspberry 

 crop will suffer much damage by it depredations. 



Tinea capiteUa, CI., attacks currants; it is slightly larger than the 

 last mentioned species, and may be distinguished from it by its 

 having a yellowish-white fascia near the base of the forewings, and 

 two distinct rather large spots of the same colour, one on the costa 

 and the other on the inner margin opposite to it. The moth is on 

 the wing in (usually) the third week in May, and when about to 



'" P. J. Fryer, " Insect Pests and Fungus Diseases," p. 151. 

 11 Chapman, " Ent. Mo. Mag.," 1891, p. 169. 



