INSECTS INJURIOUS TO MELONS, CUCUMBERS, ETC 357 



and, with the following species, with which it is often confused, 

 is often known as the " melon worm." Injury in the Middle 

 States occurs only periodically, though it has been noted in 

 Illinois and southern Michigan, but in the Gulf States it is always 

 a serious pest of all the cucurbs, destroying the blossoms, mining 

 the stems, and boring into the ripening fruit. 



The moth has a wing expanse of about 1J inches, is yellowish- 

 brown with a purplish iridescence, and is readily recognized by 

 an irregular yellowish transparent spot on the middle of the 

 fore-wings, and the basal half of the hind-wings of the same color. 

 The abdomen terminates in a conspicuous brush of large blackish 

 scales. 



Life History. The moths emerge in late spring and deposit 

 the eggs either singly or in clusters of 3 to 8 on the flowers, buds, 

 or tender terminals. The yellowish-white egg is about one- 

 thirtieth inch long, and rather elliptical. The first larvae 

 are to be found in Georgia by the middle of June. The young 

 larvae which hatch from eggs laid on the terminals bore into 

 stems and leaves and later often tunnel out the vines like the 

 squash-vine borer. Those from eggs laid on the blossoms usu- 

 ally feed in the blossoms, and a half-dozen may often be found 

 feeding in single squash blossoms, for which they seem to 

 have a decided preference. As they grow older the larvae 

 warder from one plant to another, often boring into several 

 fruits. The older larvae bore into the fruit, the excrement being 

 pushed out from the orifice and later accumulating in the cavity 

 within. A single larva boring into the rind will do sufficient 

 injury to start decay and ruin the fruit, and often a half- 

 dozen or more will be found in a single melon. Until half grown 

 the larvae are marked with transverse rows of black spots. The 

 full-grown larva is about three-quarters inch long, greenish 

 or yellowish-green, with head and prothoracic shield brown. 

 The larva reaches maturity in about two weeks, when a thin 

 silken cocoon is made in the fold of a leaf in which the pupal 

 stage is assumed, which occupies about a week. The pupa is 

 one-half to one inch long, brown, with wing and leg sheaths 

 lighter, and the tip of the abdomen bears a group of short curved 

 spines which hold the pupa more securely in the cocoon. During 



