296 



psrcHE. 



[Jnniiary 1890. 



smaller ones were near the surface of the 

 bark, sometimes just under the thin 

 outer^ film ; but others were next the 

 wood. As many as fift}' were taken 

 from a single tree, the bark here being 

 killed in large irregular patches.^ 



Living borers received 3 November 

 were about half an inch in length, of a 

 greenish dusky color, with only a few 

 scattered hairs springing from small 

 dark specks. The head was reddish 

 brown, with a darker triangular patch 

 in the middle, and the top of the first 

 segment behind the head, the cervical 

 shield so called, varied from yellowish 

 to pitchy, more or less shaded with 

 brown, but with a median yellow patch. 

 This borer has, of course, the three 

 pairs of legs and the fleshy prolegs (ten 

 in number) of the caterpillar. From 

 the peach borer, whose structure is 

 similar, it may be distinguished by its 

 dusky color (the other being white), 

 its smaller size when full grown, and, 

 with a glass, by the hooks on the prolegs. 

 In the peach borer the ends of the soft 

 stump-like prolegs are provided with 

 small brown hooks, arranged in two 

 opposite curves discontinuous at their 

 ends, each of a single row ; while in 

 the new plum borer the corresponding 

 hooks form a complete ring, nearly 

 covering the end of the leg. 



Kept in a breeding cage and supplied 

 with the chips and twigs of the plum 

 trees, our larvae spun small webs in 



I have found mention of the larval habits of only 

 two other species of this genus ;b()lh exotic), one {E. 

 cineroselld) living on wormwood {Artemisia), in Eu- 

 rope, and the other {E. zellerella) bred from dates. 



which they passed the winter. By 3 

 May a part of them had pupated, and 

 28 and 29 May two winged moths* 

 emerged, all the others failing. 



These moths were small grey insects, 

 the extended wings measuring about 

 eight-tenths of an inch. The fore wings 

 were reddish behind (within) ; the 

 hind wings were plain. 



Other moths of this species were 

 taken several times at the electric light 

 in 1S86, 1887, and 1888, the dates o 

 their occurrence ranging from 5 May to 

 24 August. The greater part, however, 

 were collected in May and June, and 

 this is doubtless the period of the greatest 

 prevalence of the winged form. The 

 time and place of ovlposition are 

 unknown. 



In brief, the species is apparently 

 single-brooded ; passes the winter as a 

 larva in the tree ; pupates in May ; 

 emerges in May and June, and may con- 

 tinue to lay eggs through July and Aug- 

 ust. 



DESCRIPTION. 



Larva. — The general appearance of 

 this larva is that of a dusky somewhat 

 hairy caterpillar, paler beneath, with 

 reddish brown head, darker in the mid- 

 dle, and variegated cervical shield. 

 Principal hairs conspicuously long and 

 slender. The head is brown, with a 

 lateral black blotch behind the eyes, 

 smooth, much darker on the slightly 

 depressed frontal area, this bordered by 

 depressed black sutures, outside which, 

 at a little distance, is a V-shaped fine 



' Determined as above by Prof. C. H. Fernald. 



