PEACH INSECTS 



269 



oommon to find old trcM^s in ncghM'tcd orchards infested witli 

 40 or 50 borers. 



Usually the larviB confine their work to the trunk or roots 

 of the tr(H' a short distance below the surface of the soil, but 

 they are sometimes found six or eight 

 inches under ground. The full-grown 

 larva (Fig. 230) is about an inch in 

 length and of a very light yellow color ; 

 the head is dark reddish-brown, and the 

 thoracic and anal shields are light brown. 

 The body is sparsely clothed with brown- 

 ish hairs arising from 

 smooth, slightly elevated 

 tubercles. 



When full-grown the 

 larva usuall}^ leaves its 

 burrow and incloses itself 

 in a rough, brown, elon- 

 gate oval cocoon com- 

 posed of silk in which 

 are incorporated particles 

 of bark and excrement 

 (Figs. 231 and 232). The 

 cocoons are usually at- 

 tached to the bark of the tree at or near the sur- 

 face of the ground, but many are found lying 

 loosely in the soil ; this is more commonly the 

 case in the South. In three to five days after 

 building the cocoon the larva transforms into 

 a dark brown pupa about f inch in length 

 (Fig. 233). In three or four weeks the pupa 

 works itself halfway out of the cocoon and the steel-blue, 

 clear-winged moth escapes. 



The male and female moths differ strikingly in color (Fig. 



Fig. 232. — Cocoons of 

 the peach-tree borer with 

 empty pupa skins project- 

 ing. 



Fig. 233.— 

 Male pupa of 

 the peach-tree 

 borer (x 3§). 



