INSECT PESTS 249 



Codlin moth. The larva of the codliu moth is a small white 

 worm that is often discovered feeding in the fruit of the apple. 

 The mature insect lays her eggs in the blossoms and the very 

 young fruit, and after the larva hatches out it enters the fruit, 

 usually at the blossom end. To prevent its depredations the 

 trees must be sprayed as soon as the petals fall and while the 

 calyx is still open. 



Curculio. The curculio is a small white worm that inhabits 

 the fruit of the peach, plum, cherry, and similar species. The 

 eggs are inserted just beneath the skin of the young fruit, and 

 the worm hatches out and feeds upon the pulp. Poisons have 

 no effect upon the worm, but the trees may be sprayed with 

 poisons to protect them from the mature insect. Peaches, how- 

 ever, and stone fruits in general, are very sensitive to sprays, 

 and instead of using such methods the trees may be jarred 

 every morning for some days after flowering and the insects 

 caught, as they fall from the trees, and burned. 



Cankerworms. The cankerworms are also called inchworms, 

 measuring worms, and spanworms. They eat the foliage of 

 many plants, and, when disturbed, drop to the ground on the 

 end of a long thread which they spin. The pupa stage is 

 passed in the soil. The female is wingless and climbs the 

 trees to lay her eggs. Her ascent may be stopped by a band 

 of cloth or cotton around the trunk. Beneath this she will 

 hide and may then be caught and killed. 



Borers. Numerous species of borers infest the trunks of 

 trees and occasionally other parts as well. They make their 

 burrows in the wood and bark, weakening the stem, destroy- 

 ing the cambium, and causing the death of the tree. Their 

 presence is indicated by small mounds of fine wood dust 

 about the base of the trees, or by the gum that oozes out of 

 the wounds in some species. Borers should be cut out as soon 

 as discovered, or killed by pushing a stout wire into their 

 burrows until it crushes them. In some cases a few drops of 



