PLUM SAWFLY. 183 



a few cases there were two injured spots ; the tunnels were 

 sometimes open, sometimes choked with black gummy 

 material. On opening the fruit I found the kernel gone, and 

 often some amount of marks of gnawing round the cavity 

 where the kernel had lain, this cavity being more or less filled 

 with blackish decayed matter. 



The larva was rarely present in any of the above-mentioned 

 fruits which I opened, but where present (either amongst 

 these or amongst the specimens sent me from elsewhere), I 

 found them to be twenty-footed caterpillars ; that is to say, 

 they were furnished with three pairs of claw-feet, six pairs of 

 ventral sucker-feet, and one pair of sucker-feet at the end of 

 the tail ; ten pairs in all. 



The general colour of the larva or caterpillar was whitish ; 

 head chestnut, darker in front or on the jaws ; eyes dark or 

 black. In such specimens as I examined the caterpillar lay 

 curled in the injured fruit, somewhat in the manner of a 

 Cockchafer grub, but when disturbed and placed on the hand, 

 it walked swiftly along it. On further examination a few days 

 later, I found the length of the specimen (exactly measured) 

 was five-sixteenths of an inch, the head pale chestnut, general 

 colour yellowish, the shape somewhat pointed towards the 

 tail, and also it emitted a strong smell. 



About the above-mentioned date some Plums similarly 

 injured by sawliy larvpe were forwarded to me from the Tod- 

 dington Fruit-grounds (Glos.), by Mr. C. D. Wise, regarding 

 which he remarked that the infested Plums had been picked 

 and destroyed ; and on July 14th he further observed that the 

 grubs must have been about full-grown when they were sent 

 me, and that he did not find these Plum-borers attacked any 

 special kind of Plum more than another. 



The infestation was also stated to be bad in the Evesham 

 district, and regarding this point Mr. W. F. Gibbon (Chairman 

 of the Evesham Fruit Growers' Experimental Committee) 

 wrote me on June 29th: — "Last year I noticed a lot of 

 them, and had all the dropped Plums daily gathered up and 

 burnt. This year I find a bored Plum "dropped only here 

 and there." 



In the case of this Plum infestation, it seems desirable to 

 notice it, as it has a power of doing a deal of mischief ; but I 

 have not had special communication about it, excepting in 

 1891, and only had opportunity of studyicg it in larval state ; 

 therefore I have merely distinguished it at heading by the 

 name of Plum Sawtly. In all points, however, which I had 

 the opportunity of observing, the condition of the infested 

 Plums and the appearance of the caterpillars corresponded 

 with the long and full descriptions of Plum Sawfly given 



