34 DECIDUOUS FRUIT INSECTS AND INSECTICIDES. 



trunk of which were taken 14 pupa% 1 hirva in cocoon, and 28 larvje 

 of various sizes. 



The attack of this insect is somewhat similar to that of the peach 

 borer, but differs in many respects. Apparently it attacks none but 

 injured trees, where the bark has been injured in various ways, and 

 it is therefore usually found in old trees where this condition is more 

 likely to occur (see PI. VI, fig. 3). Further, the larvoe occur upon 

 the trunk as a rule, make more irregular and longer burrows, and 

 generally follow the outlines of wounds or along the edges of the 

 cracked bark. They may be found, however, at or slightly below 

 the surface of the soil and above the crotch or fork of the tree in the 

 larger branches. The larvae feed on the soft tissues of the living 

 bark, and an infested tree exudes a considerable amount of gum from 

 the area in which they are Avorking. In some of the Georgia and 

 Maryland peach orchards groups of old, scarred trees have been 

 found with their trunks literally honeycombed by the channels of 

 these larvae, and this is likely to be the condition in any neglected 

 orchard in which the trees have reached some size. An average of 

 two larva^ to the tree was found in 14-year-old trees in Georgia in 

 190G, but occasionally individual trees were discovered harboring as 

 many as 40 or 50 specimens of the insect in various stages. 



DISTRIBUTION. 



The lesser peach borer is rather widely distributed in the United 

 States, to which it is native. In his List of North American Lepi- 

 doptera, Dyar (1902) simply gives " U. S.," denoting general dis- 

 tribution. Beutenmiiller (1901), in his monograph of the Sesiidse 

 of America North of Mexico, gives from Canada to Florida and 

 Texas, westward to the Pacific. It has been recorded from the 

 following States: New York and adjacent portions of Canada, Penn- 

 sylvania, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Illinois, New Jersey, Ohio, 

 California, North Carolina, Minnesota, Maryland, District of Colum- 

 bia, Virginia, and Georgia. It has been recorded as common and 

 locally injurious in New York State and Ohio. The records of this 

 Bureau (Quaintance, 190G) report it common in IMaryland, western 

 New York and circumjacent territory, and in Georgia, where it is 

 especially abundant. It is known to occur on peach in New Jersey, 

 Ohio, New York, Virginia, (Georgia, District of Columbia, and 

 Maryland. 



LITERATURE. 



The literature of this insect is not extensive. Bailey (1879) gives 

 the only account of its life history yet published, and his description 



