155 

 THE OSAGE ORANGE PYRALID. 



{Lo.r<>.stf(/c madura', n. .sp., Riley.) 

 By Mary E. Murtfeldt, Kirkwood, Mo. 



To begin with a premise wliicli no one testhetically cultured will con- 

 trovert, no fence of auy sort, be it massive wall or delicate tracery of 

 iron work, can "comi)ju'e in beauty and in harmony with the general 

 features of a landscape with a well-kept hedge; and the Osage Orange 

 is preeminently the hedge plant of the United kStates. True, it does 

 not thrive in very northern latitudes, but in all other sections, from 

 southern Texas to northern Iowa, it adapts itself readily to all varie- 

 ties of soil and surface, and, with far less care and in a shorter time 

 than any other shrub, it forms a beautiful, luxuriant, and impenetrable 

 barrier. 



A .^ 



A 



Fig. \\.—Jjoxostege maclurce: a larva; 6, pupa; c, adult; d, cocoon— enlarged ; e, side view of abdom- 

 inal segment of larva; /, dorsal view of same — still more enlarged (original). 



Hitherto one of its especial merits has been its comparative immunity 

 from insect attacks. Occasionally it suffers, in common with soft maples, 

 grai^e- vines, elms, and some other trees and shrubs, from the Coccid, 

 Pulvinaria innumerabUis^ while it is annually preyed upon, to some ex- 

 tent, by various Orthoptera, among which the Margined Cricket {Nemo- 

 hiits marginata) is at times conspicuously destructive. The pretty little 

 leaf-hoppers, Flata conica and Poeeilopferapruinosa, especially the former, 

 may be seen in summer ranged in close ranks along the tender shoots, 

 which are weakened and distorted by the innumerable punctures. The 

 Tortricids, Terafi pusiiana., Gacoecia rosaceana, and Lophoderustriferana 

 web and curl a few of the leaves and a handsome Cerambycid, Borcha- 

 schema wildii bores the older wood, sometimes to the extent of killing an 

 entire plant, but, until two years ago, it has never, to my knowledge, 



