132 



PROTECTION OF PLAXTS, 1916-1: 



Larival;Ji€!St. Qui-te often, however, the larva leaves its nest and seeks' some 

 mother, place to piipate. A favourite place is at the base of the current 

 year's growth where the old scales and the petioles which here grow close 

 together afford the necessary protection (Fig. 17). Sometimes the axil of 

 a tjyig serves the same purpose. A wound or a rough place in the bark 

 may also be utilized. Occasionally a leaf is tied to a branch and the 

 cocoon spun between them. 



■ : The larvae may remain in the cocoon for several days before pupating' 

 With those studied in the laboratory the period between the spinning of the 

 cocoon and: the casting of the last larval skin varied from four to nine days. 

 The pupal stage lasts for eleven or twelve days. 



Emergens of the Adults. — The mature pupa pushes its anterior end out 

 of the cocoon. The pupal skin, held firmly to the cocoon by means of the 

 hooked hairs of the cremaster, splits open along the middle of the head 

 and back, and the adult emerges. 



TABLE III. 



Relative Rate of Emergence of Males and Fem.\les from a Breeding Cage in the 



Laboratory 



A comparison of these figures shows that the moths are most numerous 

 during the last ten days of June, and that at first the males outnumber the 

 females, but the total numbers of males and females produced during the 

 season are approximately the same. 



Natural Enemies 



Like most other insect pests the bud-moth is preyed upon by several 

 enemies which help to keep it in check. 



Predators. — The larvae are apparently relished by certain birds. 

 Fletcher (1885) quotes a Nova Scotia grower as saying that the birds fed so 

 industriously' on the bud-moth in his orchard that he did not observe any 

 of the larvae come to maturity. In England Theobald has observed the 



