158 



FIRST ANNUAL RKPORT OF THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST. 



It attains its growth during the early part of June, when it 



spins its cocoon, usually upon 

 the surface of the bark, and, 

 unless it occurs very abun- 

 dantly, at or near the branch- 

 intr of the twigs. 



The cocoon, shown at a in 

 its natural size, almost cover- 

 ing a small twig, and at b en- 

 hirged, is white or whitish, 

 about one-fourth of an inch 

 in length, of the diameter of 

 Fig. 41.— Apple-leaf Bnccuiatrix, Bucculatrix an ordiuarv pin, and is charac- 



POMipoLiELLA : rt, piece of twig covered with co- • i i "^ i • , 



coons; 6, cocoon enlarged; c, the moth, enlarged. tcriZCd by Several prominent 



longitudinal ribs ; in some examides before me, there are six of these 

 ribs. When ready for its transformation, the amber-brown pupa, ac- 

 cording to Riley, pushes itself partly out of the cocoon, and the little 

 moth emerges during the month of April, and deposits its eggs on the 

 young leaves. The moth is of so small a size — but a little more than 

 one-fourth of an inch in expanse of wings — that it would not readily be 

 noticed even when in flight about the apple-trees. Its appearance, en- 

 larged, is shown at c, in Fig. 41. 



There are two, and j)ossibly three annual broods of this insect. In 

 the latitude of St. Louis, Mo., the caterpillars have been observed more 

 numerously during the month of September than at any other time. 

 The cocoons of this brood were spun during the latter part of this 

 month and in October, from which the moth would be produced the 

 following April. 



Geographical Distribution. 

 The insect appears to be local in its nature. Nearly all the notices 

 of it within this State have come from its western portion. A corre- 

 spondent of the Rural Neio Yorker (in 1870) states that in visiting an 

 orchard of 800 apple-trees in Brighton, near Kochester, his " attention 

 was directed to the branches of the trees, which were thoroughly lined 

 with these insects inclosed in the silk-like cocoons, and tightly attached 

 to the small branches." A correspondent of the American Entomolo- 

 gist, writing from Scottsville, Monroe Co., JST. Y., records their intro- 

 duction into his orchard: "They were first observed here last year 

 [1879]. They are deposited on the bark near the forks, and number 

 from two to twenty per tree." At Ithaca, IST. Y. (midway between 

 the eastern and western limits of the State), they have been observed, 

 scattered sparingly over the branches — not in groups, as in the western 

 counties. 



