48 COCONUT PLANTER'S MANUAL. 



Description of Stages. 



The coconut caterpillar, like all other caterpillars, passes through 

 four stages in its development : (l) Egg ; (2) caterpillar ; 

 (3) cocoon ; (4) moth. As will be seen below, the first three 

 stages live actually on some portion of the leaves, while the fourth 

 stage, the moth, is more active and can fly about. The moths, how- 

 ever, do spend most of their lives on or near the coconut or other 

 palms, such as palmyra. 



Moths. — The small grayish moths (see figure l) are not very 

 active as compared with other moths, and do not fly much unless dis- 

 turbed. Their presence on an estate may be detected by shaking or 

 beating the lower leaves smartly, and any small moths that fly away 

 a short distance and soon settle down again are almost certain to be 

 the coconut moth. They are also sometimes found resting under 

 cadjan sheds during wet weather. The resting position of the moth 

 is shown in figure 2. 



Eggs. — The moths lay their eggs on the underside of the leaves, 

 and, if the leaves have already been attacked by the caterpillars, the 

 eggs are usually laid under the webbed galleries made by the cater- 

 pillars (see figure 3). The eggs are very small (see figure 3 and 4) 

 and are not easy to find. They are whitish when freshly laid, but 

 turn pinkish before hatching. A single female moth can lay more 

 than 350 eggs during its life, which only lasts about two weeks. 



Caterpillars. — The eggs hatch in about ten days into very small 

 caterpillars. These cover themselves with a few threads, under which 

 they start eating away small portions of the green underside of the 

 leaflets. The galleries are extended, and are covered with some of the 

 small pieces of leaf bitten off* by the caterpillars and with small pieces 

 of waste matter. 



Cocoons. — The caterpillars are full grown in from six to eight 

 weeks, and form their cocoons usually on the underside of the leaflets, 

 covering these cocoons with small pieces of leaf and waste matter 

 Figure 12 shows the injury to a portion of a coconut leaflet caused 

 by the caterpillars, and two cocoons are shown. 



Moths. — The cocoon stage lasts about two weeks, after which the 

 moths come out and are soon ready to begin egg laying for another 

 brood of caterpillars. 



