392 JOURNAL OF ECONOMIC ENTOMOLOGY [Vol. 2 



May, 1898, were badly infested, though Smith (1896), Davis (1897), 

 and many others had mentioned the rose as one of the common food 

 plants. 



In the case under our observation the pest was received on some 

 Killarney plants imported from an Ohio firm something over a year 

 ago. The larvae evidently increased during the summer of 1908 and 

 by midsummer of 1909 were sufficiently abundant to cause very 

 serious devastation, the loss from defoliation and incidental checking 

 of blooms undoubtedly amounting to over five thousand dollars. 

 Fortunately the infestation started in one corner of the house and 

 though when first observed by us both houses were well infested 

 thruout, defoliation was confined to a relatively small area and 

 the slowness of the spread was rather remarkable. When first ob- 

 served most of the terminals had been folded up by the larvae. Sub- 

 sequent observations show that where the larvae are not numerous 

 that they are much more common on the lower leaves than on the 

 terminals, this doubtless being due to the fact that the eggs are 

 always laid on the older leaves and never on the terminals. Where 

 plants are badly infested the larvee tie the terminal leaves together 

 in a typical tortricid fashion, thus checking all growth of the plant, 

 and burrow into the flower buds, so that there is no possibility of 

 securing blooms (Plate 16). 



The owner of these houses states that some twenty years ago he 

 was troubled with the same insect in rose houses in Massachusetts, 

 but not so seriously and it was gradually brought under control by 

 handpicking. Upon visiting the Waban Rose Conservatories at 

 Natick, Mass., Mr. Alex. Montgomery, the manager, informed the 

 writer that some twenty years ago when hybrid roses were first 

 introduced that they had had considerable trouble with the insect 

 both in the house and on Jacqueminot roses growing out of doors, 

 but that in recent years, though a few were always to be found in old 

 houses, they had found no difficulty in controlling them by handpick- 

 ing. Mr. Montgomery had just returned from an extensive trip 

 among rose growers thruout the East, but had heard of no note- 

 worthy damage by the insect in recent years, nor do the florists' trade 

 journals give any account of injury, except that Sirrine (1900) 

 mentions it as a carnation pest, where carnations are with or follow 

 roses, implying that it a common rose pest. It is evident, there- 

 fore, that serious injury to roses is sporadic as on the apple, and other 

 common food plants. 



