INSECTS INJURIOUS TO STONE FRUITS 



647 



clear except the margins and a line across the fore-wings, and 

 the abdomen is marked with three or four narrow yellow stripes. 



Life History. The moths emerge in New York and New Jersey 

 from the middle of July to the latter part of August, at Wash- 

 ington, D. C. from the middle of June until mid-September, 

 the majority emerging in late July, while in Georgia the majority 

 emerge in late August and early September. As there is but one 

 generation a year, the time of emer- 

 gence in these different latitudes is 

 decidedly anomalous when compared 

 with the life histories of other insects. 

 The females soon lay their eggs, pre- 

 ferring to place them on the base of 

 the trunk, but often placing them 

 higher, or even on weeds or trash, 

 or on the soil. A single female may 

 lay from 200 to 800 eggs. The eggs 

 are about one -fiftieth inch long, and 

 slightly over half as wide, truncate 

 at one end, and a light chestnut brown 

 or reddish-brown in color, not easily 

 seen on the bark of the tree. They 

 hatch in about ten days and the 

 young larvae at once seek out small 

 cracks in the bark through which they 

 enter the soft bark of the tree. Their 

 presence may be easily detected by 

 the powdery, brownish frass which 

 they throw out of their burrows. The 

 young larvae grow rapidly and con- 

 tinue feeding until forced into hibernation by cold weather, 

 and in the South doubtless feed during warm days in the winter. 

 Feeding is resumed in the spring, the larvse boring through the 

 lower layers of the bark and causing masses of gum to exude as 

 already described. Larvae of almost all sizes may usually be found 

 in late spring, and the resulting moths appear irregularly over 



FIG. 499. Eggs of the 

 peach borer : natural size 

 a>n; an egg greatly en- 

 larged at I; and end of 

 egg greatly magnified, 

 showing micropyle at m. 

 (After Slingerland.) 



