13 , , , ::v , ',,.. i , 



trees. After the insect leaves the twig, the injured part dries up and 

 breaks off. This insect was also seen, though in much smaller numbers, 

 last season, in Maryland and Virginia. Apple trees are also similarly 

 injured in a similar manner in Marylapd, and it is probable that the 

 damage is done by the same worm." 



" The larvae are about 0.25 inch in length ; head black ; body dark 

 reddish-brown, with lighter rings the third ring being more conspicu- 

 ous and whitish. The moth is quite small, and measures from 0.40 to 

 0.60 of an inch in expanse of wings, and is of a pale grey color, with a 

 few blackish spots on the upper wings." 



From a recent communication of Professor Comstock, of Cornell Uni- 

 versity, Ithaca, N. Y., made to the Western New York Horticultural 

 Society, we have information of the ravages of this insect in several 

 portions of the State of New York. The statement of the habits of the 

 caterpillar made by Professor Comstock, differs in some particulars from 

 that of Mr. Glover, above quoted. According to his observations, " it 

 destroys the terminal leaf-bud, and sometimes the lateral buds, in the 

 following manner: The young caterpillar begins its work in the 

 spring at the time, or soon after, the shoots begin to grow. These, when 

 from one-half to one inch in length, are punctured at the base and eaten 

 completely off. The leaves of the bud unfold and then wither. The twig, 

 although severed, does not drop off, but is held in place by a gummy 

 substance. All the twigs on some trees are destroyed, especially 

 on two-year old trees. Mr. Green, of Clifton, N. Y., had 100 trees 

 infested. The larvae became full-grown during the latter part of May 

 or early in June. Specimens, collected June 10th, were found to have 

 changed to pupae June 14th." The period of their emerging as moths 

 was not observed, as they were found dead in their breeding-cage some 

 time during the summer. 



In addition to this insect's occurrence at Ithaca, it was also observed 

 at Rochester, Lockport, and at Jordan Station, Ontario. Its operations 

 have not come under my personal notice, but its presence in the eastern 

 portion of our State is very probable, from statements made to me two 

 years ago, of an affection of some peach trees in Schenectady and 

 Albany. 



In the Annual Report of the Entomological Society of Ontario for the 

 year 1872, published in 1873, we learn that the ravages of this insect 

 are not confined to the peach, plum, and perhaps the apple, but that it 

 also occurs under very different conditions and affecting a very different 

 food-plant. In this report, Mr. Wm. Saunders, the editor of the Cana- 

 dian Entomologist, describes the insect under the name of the strawberry 

 root or crown-borer. During the years 1868 and 1869, it was very destruc- 

 tive in certain grounds at St. Thomas, Ontario, the caterpillar eating 

 irregular channels in various directions through the crown and larger 

 roots of the strawberry plants, causing them to wither and die. Mr. 

 Saunders gives a minute description of the caterpillar, narrates its his- 

 tory, states that it probably has two annual broods, and quotes the 

 description of the moth given by Dr. Clemens, under the name of prui- 

 nella, as before stated. For convenience of reference, we copy the 

 description : 



"Head and face pale grey; thorax, dark grey. Labial palpi, dark 

 fuscous externally, and pale grey at the end ; terminal joint grey, dusted 

 with dark fuscous. Antennae greyish, annulated with dark brown. 

 Fore wings grey, dusted with blackish-brown, with a few blackish-brown 



