Eleventh Report of the State Entomologist 131 



Life-History and Habits. 



Prof. Riley found that the worms commenced to appear on cucumbers 

 in the latitude of St. Louis about the middle of July, boring cylindrical 

 holes usually from below, and feeding upon its fleshy portion, and that 

 they continued their destructive work till into September. As many as 

 four had been found in a medium sized cucumber, Mr. Ashmead has 

 reported the insect as commonly feeding on squashes in Florida, where 

 it not only bores into the fruit but also feeds upon the leaves.* The 

 larv£e are gross feeders, producing a large amount of soft excrement and 

 developing rapidly. They complete their growth in from three to four 

 weeks according to the observations of Prof. Riley. When about to trans- 

 form they usually leave the fruit and spin a slight cocoon of white silk 

 within portions of a convenient leaf or beneath such loose rubbish as may 

 be found in the vicinity. In a few days they change to light brown 

 pupge, and the moths emerge in warm weather eight to ten days after 

 spinning up. The later ones do not give out the moths in the autumn, 

 but remain all winter in the cocoon, probably in the pupa state. Some 

 imagoes probably winter, in Florida, according to Quaintance. In warm 

 weather the insect can complete its round of life in four or five weeks; 

 thus there might be two or three broods after the middle of July. There 

 appears to be no record of observation of the moth during the summer 

 months, yet it is by no means improbable. The latest individuals in 

 Missouri came out as late as November. The earliest appearance of the 

 adults and their egg-laying habits are of great importance in controlling 

 this pest. 



Its Injuries andSpread. 



The injuries from this insect have been quite severe in Illinois, Missouri, 

 Tennessee, North and South Carohna, Virginia, and Florida, and in all 

 probabihty in all places where it has established itself. In 1869, the 

 insect was very destructive around Alton, III, and also in the vicinity of 

 Springfield. The cucumbers and melons in the vicinity of St. Joseph, 

 Mich., were greatly injured by the worms the same year, and in Missouri 

 it was abundant and destructive in several counties, — cucumbers suffering 

 the most. A correspondent from Asheville, N. C, reported three-fourths 

 of the crop of cantaloupes in that section destroyed by this insect — pos- 

 sibly aided by its close ally, E. hyalinata. It is apparently gradually ex- 



*Prof . Riley states that " it neither bores into the root nor devours the foliage [of the cucum- 

 ber], but seems to confine itself to the fruit. Mr. Ashmead states: "as a borer it is found [in 

 Florida] in squash, cucumbers, and melons, but it will also feed on the leaves of all these 

 vines." 



