38 



and the centre of the leaf. In the case of the blossom truss 

 they may eat out the buds before these have opened and later 

 bite holes in the young fruit-let. If the leaves are not out when 

 the eggs hatch the young caterpillars burrow into the unopened 

 lea.f and fruit buds and do much harm in this way. In bad 

 attacks practically everything green on the tree has been de- 

 voured by the end of May and the orchards are as lea Hess as 

 they were in winter. Fresh leaves are produced later but the? 

 orchard is crippled for the year and possibly a.s regards crop 

 poduction for the year after us well. 



The caterpillars of the Mottled Umber feed on the foliage 

 in much the same way as the above-mentioned species but 

 they do not so often spin leaves together rior are they so 

 inclined to feed upon the trusses of f nutlets or blossom. 



Tog-ether with the Winter Moth caterpillars may usually be 

 found those of the Tortrix or Leaf-Boiler Moths which also 

 are very harmful. As these Tortrix pests cannot be controlled 

 by " banding " (one of the methods of dealing with Winter 

 Moths) it is well to know the difference between the two 

 groups, specially as both spin leaves together. The simplest 

 differences to observe are as follows. Winter Moth cater- 

 pillars in walking progress with a looping movement, clinging 

 to the leaf only by legs at the " head " end and claspers at 

 the " tail " end. Tortrix caterpillars crawl in the ordinary 

 way, lying flat on the leaf, while in addition they have the 

 very characteristic habit of wriggling rapidly backward if 

 touched in front. 



FIG. 3. Apple Shoot oeing eaten by Winter Moth caterpillars. 



