98 JOURNAL OF ECONOMIC ENTOMOLOGY [Vol. 15 



Mating takes place within two weeks after emergence and is observed 

 throughout the remainder of the season, but no eggs are laid until late 

 August or September and oviposition continues until freezing weather. 

 The female prefers the wood of bearing trees upon which to lay her 

 eggs, mostly upon the smaller fruit spurs or shoots. They are not 

 laid with any regularity, but occur with great frequency on the uneven- 

 nesses of the spurs, around bud-scale scars, among the pubescence of the 

 3^oung growth however. They are sometimes found, but much less 

 often and in m.uch less abundance, upon nursery stock. 



Habits 



The young on hatching immediately penetrate the buds and seek 

 the axil of the unfolding leaf where they remain until almost fully grown, 

 when they may be found in the open ranged along the flower stalk, peti- 

 ole or lowei side of the leaf. They secrete a copious amount of clear, 

 otick>' fluid, which is surrounded by a whitish, opaque, waxy material 

 secreted by a group of pores around the anus. This is often seen in the 

 form of a thread with a globule at the end protruding from the insect's 

 body. In severe cases it drips from the trees on men or horses passing 

 beneath. 



The adults feed but little and do no apparent injury. They have 

 a tendency to spread out onto shade or forest trees surrounding the 

 orchard until the acutal nimiber in the orchard is greatly reduced, but 

 return again to deposit their eggs. Orchards sprayed in the spring 

 are soon reinfested by adults flying in from surrounding untreated or- 

 chards. 



Natural Enemies 



No parasites are known, but numerous predaceous enemies, such as 

 birds, ants, aphis-lions, etc. account for a certain number. This loss, 

 however, is from a practical standpoint, insignificant. 



A fungous disease (Entomophthora sphaerospenna) has proven much 

 m.ore effective over limited areas, practically wiping out the insect in 

 certain orchards. The disease started in 1920 in a few very heavily 

 infested orchards at the point of original discovery of the pest and was 

 only effective in a few orchards immediately contiguous. 



Control 



The control experiments may be considered under two headings: — 



1. The treatment of nursery stock to destroy the eggs. 



2. The control of the insect under orchard conditions. 



