THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST. 



<;7 



on the back. (See Fig. 43, c.) 



called it the Pickle Worm, from the fact of its often being found in 

 cucumbers that have been pickled. 



[Fig- 43] At Figure 43, a. I represent 



one of these worms of the nat- 

 ual size. They vary much in 

 appearance, some being of a 

 yellowish-white, and very 

 much resembling the inside of 

 n unripe melon, while others 

 re tinged more or less with 

 green. They are all quite soft 

 and translucent, and there is 

 i transverse row of eight shiny, 

 i ightly elevated spots on 

 s- -ach segment, and an addi- 

 ; >nol two } e ind thp others 

 Along the back and towarls the 

 head, these spots are larger than at the sides, and each spot gives rise 

 to a fine hair. The specimen from which I obtained my first moth 

 last summer was very light colored, and these spots were so nearly 

 the color of the body as to be scarcely visible. The head was honey- 

 yellow bordered with a brown line and with three black confluent 

 spots at the palpi. 



The cervical shield or horny plate on the first segment was of the 

 same color as the body, and so transparent that the brown border of 

 the head when retracted shone distinctly through it as at Figure 43, 

 ■b. The breathing-holes or stigmata are small, oval, and of the same 

 color as the body, with a fulvous ring around them. In some of the 

 young worms the shiny spots are quite black and conspicuous. My 

 late associate, Mr. Walsh, communicated to me the following descrip- 

 tion of such a marked specimen, from which he bred the very sarhe 

 species of moth as from the paler individuals : The description was 

 taken when the worm was but half grown. 



Length J inch. Color pale greenish-yellow ; 16 legs. Head pale 

 rufous, the Y-shaped sutures and the mouth black. Cervical shield as 

 in Figure 43, d, each half edged with black, center rufous. Marked 

 under shield on each side as at 6, and the same lateral marking on joints, 

 2 and 3. Above on joints 2 and 3 as at f. On joints 4-11, eight (in- 

 cluding 2 lateral) spots transversely arranged, and behind these, two 

 dorsal spots. Of the eight spots the two lateral ones on each side are 

 substigmatal. Stigmata edged with dusky. Anal joint with five spots 

 as in g, the middle one large and transverse. Body with some sparse 

 long dusky hairs, 6-8 times as long as wide, a little tapered toward 

 the head. Spins a thread. Legs and prolegs nearly immaculate. 



The worms commenced to appear in the latitude of St. Louis, 

 about the middle of July, and they continued their destructive work 

 till the end of September. They bore cylindrical holes into the fruit 

 and feed on its fleshy parts. They are gross feeders and produce a 



