I/O NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 



Larch case bearer 



Coleophora lariccUa Hiibn. 



Tips of larch needles sometimes turn yellow or brown, and on investigation it is 

 found that the interior has been eaten away by a small, brown, black headed worm. 



This insect is a European species, and its presence in this country 

 was first recorded by Dr Hagen, in 1886.' Specimens were sent him by 

 Mr Henry Watson of Northampton Ivlass., who stated that it caused 

 considerable injury to a number of larclies about 30 years old. This insect 

 has been known in this country for a number of years ; possibly earlier than 

 the above date, according to Mr J. G. Jack who, writing in 1896,'' stated that 

 the insect had been known for a good many years at the Arnold arboretum. 

 This species does not appear to multiply verj' rapidly in this country, and 

 though present in these two places, and probably others, for several years, 

 has not caused damage enough to arouse apprehension. It is not men- 

 tioned in our economic literature, and! while we have observed the species 

 for some years on larches at Albany, rt has never inflicted much damage. 



Life history. The delicate gray moths occur in June or July, and 

 according to Stainton, the recently hatched larva which appears in the 

 autumn doubtless contents itself with mining in a leaf, but as soon as the 

 mine is big enough to form a case, it cuts off a portion and proceeds with 

 this protection, to an adjoining leaf. The case is at first whitish but gradu- 

 ally becomes gray, and the caterpillar renders it less transparent by lining it 

 with silk. The method of feeding is similar to that of our native species, 

 and the larva when attacking a needle, first cuts a circular hole through 

 which its head, and later its body may extend into the interior. Its case is 

 attached to the edge of the orifice in the needle and the mine, as well as 

 the evidence of various observers, shows that it rarely gets far from its 

 domicile, evidently preferring the shelter of its silk-lined case to the protec- 

 tion afforded by a mined leaf. The larvae retire to the large stems on the 

 approach of winter and hibernate, becoming active again in early spring 



"Can. Ent. 18: 125-26 



= Garden and Forest, 9: 269 



