INJURIOUS TO MELONS, CUCUMBERS, SQUASH, ETC. 395 



Life History. The moths appear soon after their food-plants 

 start growth, from mid-April along the Gulf Coast to June 1st, 

 in New Jersey, and late June or early July in Connecticut. They 

 fly only in the daytime, and their clear wings and brightly marked 

 bodies give them a close resemblance to large wasps. The eggs 

 are laid on all parts of the plant, but chiefly on the stems, par- 

 ticularly near the base. The oval egg is of a dull red color and 

 about one-twenty-fifth inch long. The moth deposits her 



FIG. 286. A squash stem cut open showing borers within. (Photo by Quain- 



tance.) 



eggs singly, and one individual has been observed to lay as many 

 as 212. They hatch in one or two weeks. The young larva enters 

 the main stem and tunnels through it, and often enters the leaf- 

 petioles branching from it. It is a soft, stout , whitish caterpillar, 

 with a small black head, and about one inch long when full grown. 

 The larvae reach maturity in about four weeks and then enter 

 the earth, where they make tough silken cocoons, coated with 

 particles of earth, an inch or two below the surface. In the 

 South the larva? transform to pupae from which a second generation 



