PEACH INSECTS 



271 



or in small groups on the trunk of the tree, usually near the base. 

 The egg is about 5^0 inch in length, chestnut or reddish-l^rown in 

 color, ellipsoidal in form, slightly flattened at the sid(!s, trun- 

 cate and slightly hollowed at the tip and beautifully sculp- 

 tured, as shown in Figure 235. It has been shown by dissection 

 of the moths that each ft^male is capable, of hiving from 200 to 

 600 eggs. They hatch in 9 or 10 days and 

 the young larvae soon start their burrows in the 

 soft bark. 



The exact time of the emergence of the moths 

 and the deposition of the eggs is a matter of 

 great practical importance, and although it has 

 received considerable attention by entomo- 

 logical workers, the data now available are not 

 as complete as might be wished. In New York 

 the moths have been known to emerge as early 

 as June 12 and as late as the last of September, 

 but most of them appear from July 1 to 

 August 15. In New Jersey the period of 

 maximum emergence is from June 15 to Sep- 

 tember 15 ; at Washington, D. C, it is prac- 

 tically the same, although a few moths may 

 emerge in late May. In South Carolina most 

 of the moths emerge between July 20 and September 20, after 

 which date only a few stragglers are seen. In Georgia and 

 generally throughout the South a few moths may emerge as 

 early as April or May, but the majority appear between August 1 

 and October 1. We would naturally expect the larvae to mature 

 and give rise to the adults earlier in the warm climate of the 

 Southern states than in New York or New Jersey with their 

 shorter growing season, but it is now well proved that such is 

 not the case. The cause of this peculiar phenomenon is un- 

 known. 



Fig. 236. — 

 Empty pupa skin 

 of the lesser peach- 

 tree borer project- 

 ing from its bur- 

 row in a plum 

 branch. 



