76 



INJURIOUS INSECTS OF KANSAS. 



a. 



FIG. 41. SPRING CANKER-WORM; 

 a, larva; ft, magnified egg and a 

 small cluster of eggs; c, magni- 

 fied portion of side of larva, and 

 d, same of back, showing mark- 

 ings. 



Description and Life-history '.The adult insect is a brownish- 

 gray moth (male), with wings expanding about one inch. The 

 fore wings have darker markings, and the hind wings are light 

 gray with a dusky central dot. The female is wingless, having a 

 peculiar, spider-like appearance. She is from three- to four-tenths 

 of an inch in length. 



The moths issue in early spring from chrysalids which have 

 passed the winter in the ground. The female crawls up the tree 



and deposits her eggs in small masses 

 on the twigs or branches. The young 

 larvse or caterpillars issue just as the 

 leaves begin to unfold from the bud. 

 The young larva is " dark olive-green 

 or brown in color, with a black, shin- 

 ing head." The larvse feed* vora- 

 ciously, and in Kansas are usually 

 full-grown by the middle of May, 

 when they enter the ground to pupate- 

 They remain in the ground as chrysa- 

 lids until the following spring ; a few, however, probably issue in 

 the fall of the first year. The larva or "worm" is about one inch 

 long ; the head mottled and spotted ; the body is longitudinally 

 striped with many 

 pale lines. When in 

 large numbers, this 

 pest may so com- 

 pletely defoliate an 

 orchard as to leave 

 the trees as if swept 

 by fire. Two or three 

 successive visitations 

 of the pest in large 

 numbers generally kill the infested trees. 



Remedies. The Canker-worm is a great favorite with insectiv- 

 orous birds, more than fifty species of birds which feed on the 

 worms being enumerated by Maynard. 



Spraying with London purple (see p. 8) or Paris green (see 

 p. 7) is probably the most effective remedy. The spraying should 

 be done soon after the worms hatch. 



Preventing the ascent of the wingless female up the tree trunks 



FIG. 42. SPRING CANKER-WORM; a, male moth; 6, female 

 moth; c, joints of antenna of female moth; d, joint of 

 abdomen of female moth; e, retractile ovipositor of fe- 

 male. 



