Insects Injurious to the Apple. 83 



Moth not only occurs in Europe, but also upon the North American 

 Continent, both in Canada and the United States. The south of 

 England has been most affected by its presence, but it occurs in the 

 western, midland, and eastern counties. It has been especially re- 

 corded from Bournemouth. Mr. J. H. W. Best of Suckley, Worcester- 

 shire, tells me it is very harmful some years in his plantations. 

 Most fruit trees are subject to its ravages, but apple suffers to the 

 greatest extent. 



The presence of this fruit pest may be detected by the early 

 destruction of the developing buds, which on partly opening are seen 

 to be eaten and shrivelled and which soon turn brown ; these buds 

 will be found to contain a small reddish-brown caterpillar, the cause 

 of the injury. Later the damage is still more noticeable, the opening 

 leaf and blossom being spun together, for both leaf and blossom buds 

 are attacked. There may frequently be noticed a gummy appearance 

 on the opening leaflets. The larva enters the bud, if it has not 

 already burst, by eating down between the bracts, and there, as 

 described by Kollar, a drop of sap forms which tends to hold the bud 

 intact and to stop it from bursting ; in any case if it does open the 

 young leaves soon shrivel and turn brown. More usually, many 

 of the buds fully open, leaf and blossom appearing as usual, the 

 caterpillars later spinning the bunches of leaves and blossoms 

 into a mass with silk. These leaf nests frequently die right away 

 and turn brown in a very characteristic manner. Slingerland (4) 

 states that in America the larva 1 also sometimes " burrow down the 

 stalk for two or three inches, causing it to die." This habit has not 

 so far been observed in England ; in all cases the larva boring down 

 the top shoots of apple and pear has proved to be that of one of the 

 Pith Moths (vide p. 92). When nearly mature the Bud Moth larva 

 forms more or less of a tube by rolling up a leaf and roughly lines it 

 with loose silk. The caterpillar at first only uses this tube as a 

 shelter from which it emerges to feed, gradually drawing the neigh- 

 bouring leaves together by silken cords. From observations made 

 during the last few years it seems that the larvae feed mainly at 



night. 



LlFE-HlSTOEY AND HABITS. 



The Bud Moth is one of the family of Tortricidae. In size i 

 varies from to f inch across the expanded wings. The front 

 wings are dark grey with a broad, greyish-white band across the 

 middle with greyish spots and streaks ; near the so-called anal 

 angle is a triangular dark spot and towards the tip a leaden-grey, 



G 2 



