INJURING THE FRUIT. 101 



the season, before the foliage has become conspicu- 

 ously curled, would probably destroy a majority 

 of the aphides then i»resent upon the leaves. 



INJURING THE FRUIT. 



The Gooseberry Fruit-worm. 



Dafa "i una convoli i tella . 



The fruit of the gooseberry, and occasionally of 

 the currant also, is often attacked by a small worm 

 that eats out the substance, leaving only the skin. 

 This is the progeny of an egg laid on the fruit when 

 it was quite small by a spotted, pale gray moth. 

 Soon after hatching from this egg the larva bores 

 into the berry, and feeds upon the pulp. After it has 

 eaten out one berry it fastens another to it by silken 

 threads, and devours its contents, continuing the 

 process until by the time it is fully grown it has 

 formed a cluster of six or eight injured berries. At 

 this time it is a pale-green caterpillar, three-fourths 

 of an inch long, with a small, brown, horny-looking 

 head. Shortly before the fruit ripens it lets itself to 

 the ground by a silken thread, and, concealed among 

 the fallen leaves and rubbish, spins a thin, silken 

 cocoon within which it changes to a brown chrysalis. 

 It remains in this condition until the following 

 spring, when it comes forth as a moth : consequently 

 there is only one brood of the larvae each year. 



