CHAPTER TTI 



APPLE INSECTS -BUDS AND FOLIAGE 



Tmo Hud-moth 



Tmetocera ocellana S(;hiffermullor 



This is one of tlie most numerous, (Icslructivo, and wide- 

 spread of tlie inse(;ts attac^kin^- the opening- l)U(ls of fruit trees. 

 It is a European insect which has l)een ravaging American 

 orchards for nearly a century, and is now mon^ or less injurious 

 yearly from Nova Scotia through Canada and the northern 

 half of the United States to Oregon and Washington. Infested 

 nursery stock is the principal source of new infestations. 

 Working in the opening })uds, it often " nips in the bud " a 

 prospe(;tive crop of fruit, and it is especially destructive on 

 recently budded or grafted trees and nursery stock. It more 

 commonly infests api:)le trees, but pear, plum, cherry, quince, 

 and peach trees and bla('k])erry ])ushes are also attacked and 

 sometimes seriously injured. 



Th(^ half-grown, dark brown, black-headed caterpillars 

 hibernate in obscure little silken hibernacula on the bark of 

 the twigs, usually near the ])uds. Early in the spring, or as soon 

 as the buds begin to op(^n in April or May, these caterpillars 

 leave their hibernating quarters and get into the opening buds 

 (Fig. 45) , wher(; they feed upon the central expanding leaves and 

 flowers, tying them together with silken threads. The petiole 

 of one of the leaves is often nearly severed, and the edge of 

 the wilting leaf is then rolled into a tube lined sparsely with silk 



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