THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST. 



49 



the anterior portion, and when near mature. We do not usually observe 

 the caterpillar uritil well grown, for the reason that when first hatched it 

 appears to be in the centre of the opening bud, out of which it eats the 

 heart, and of coarse stops the growth, leaving generally only three to four 

 leaves to expand. It soon chooses one of these and folds it up as above, 

 and then feeds on its upper cuticle, which makes the conspicuous brown 

 blotches on the exposed side, or under side of the leaf. One leaf is gener- 

 ally more than sufficient to feed the caterpillar. When mature it lines the 

 sides of the leaf with soft white silk, and changes to a dark mahogany- 

 brown chrysalis; about three-tenths of an inch long, slender and lively; 

 its most distinguishing point is a little knob terminating its anterior extrem- 

 ity. In a few days these chrysali<les change to bright orange-colored moths^ 

 three-tenths of an inch long and spreading their wings about half an inch. 



There is no noxious insect, that has come under my observation, that 

 is more difficult to combat successfully than this. There appears to be no way 

 of getting at it with any of the remedies usually employed for destroying such 

 insects. While it is young it is too inconspicuous to be seen, and is always 

 covered by a close web, or hid in the folds of the young leaves, and when 

 it becomes larger it is snugly sealed up between tlie folds of a leaf, at all 

 times out of reach of liquid or dr^- applications. 



The only remedy that I can suggest is the tedious one of looking over 

 the trees about the time the first brood of larvfB are coming to maturity, 

 carefully picking the injured leaves off, with the worms in them and destroy- 

 ing them. Yet the little things are so delicate, and so easily destroved bv 

 natural causes, that our labor in doing this would be more than half the 

 time thrown away, for the reason that a first brood is no sure sign that there 

 will be a second, and a second that there will be a third; the weather must 

 be continuously drj- and hot for them to breed to a noxious degTce. Thus^ 

 we had here ten times as numerous a first brood the spring of 1871 as v\-e 

 had the spring of 1870 ; yet the last season thej' did but little harm, while 

 the year before they swept everything before them. Yet these two seasons 

 Avere quite similar in this neighborhood, and the difterence in their ravages 

 can only be accounted for on the hypothesis that being numerous two years 

 in succession in the same place, their natural enemies bred up also, and 

 destroyed them. 



THE APPLE-LEAF BUCCULATEIX— ^((m/ia^n^r pomifoUella, Clem, 



(Lepidoptera Tineida^.) 



This is a small insect hitherto com- 

 paratively little known, and which yet 

 attracted some attention during the past 

 two 3'ears. It was sent to the office on 

 several occasions for name, and was 

 found, though b}' no means abundantly, 

 in several oi-chards, and more espe- 

 cially in that of Mr. T. E. Allen of 

 Allenton. It cannot be classed as a 

 very injurious insect with us, but to 

 illustrate how unduly multiplied it may 

 at any time become, and the importance of a proper knowledge of its habits, I 

 4 



