DEFENCE. 93 



The eggs are laid along the hole which the mother 

 insect forms by devouring the tissue. The grubs from 

 these eggs eat out burrows for themselves which extend 

 at right angles or sideways to the original path made 

 by the mother. This system of burrows has a curious 

 resemblance to a spinal column with diverging ribs. 

 To keep out these creatures, and for other important 

 reasons, the stem is covered with a thick coating of 

 cork. The smaller branches of the apple are the 

 favourite habitat of the American Blighty a small insect 

 of the nature of a " Green Fly" which lives by sucking 

 the juices of the young and tender twigs. These latter 

 require therefore a strong skin, or an epidermis with 

 hairs or some other form of protection. 



The leaves of the apple are subject to the attacks of 

 all sorts of enemies. Caterpillars, such as those of the 

 Winter and Great Winter Moth, devour the leaves 

 bodily, and may easily destroy a whole orchard, especially 

 considering the fact that a single one of these insects 

 may lay 400 eggs. The buds also are very eagerly 

 sought for by insects on account of the sugar and other 

 nutritious matters which they contain. The ^''Apple- 

 sucker'' lays its eggs about September upon the fine 

 hairs of the twigs ; in the spring, exactly at the time 

 when the buds are ready a small flat grub appears 

 which insinuates itself between the budscales, and once 

 inside devours all the younger tissues. The " Apple- 

 weeviV also attacks the buds in spring; it bores a 

 little hole through the scales, and lays one ^%% in each 

 bud. The larva developed from this q%% remains all 

 the spring v/ithin the bud sucking apple-sugar, and 

 will, of course, destroy it altogether. After boring its 

 way out, the insect seems to wander about during the 

 summer, living on the food material which it has 



