42 INSECTS AFFECTING VEGETATION 



quite variable. They eat holes in the young fruit and foliage. They 

 are said to work on a number of trees and shrubs, including most of 

 the fruits grown in Michigan, feeding during the day and probably 

 also during the night, and dropping to the ground when disturbed. 

 The pupal stage is passed in earthen cells in the ground. Professor 

 Slingerland, who discusses these, creatures at length, says that the 

 insects are very difficult to kill with the ordinary late sprays, but 

 that trees sprayed before they blossom, with the arsenites and bor- 

 deaux are apt to be pretty free from them. As the insects are pe- 

 riodic in their invasions, often disappearing for a number of years 

 together, it is not possible to foretell just when such a spray w r ill be 

 necessary. Those who apply bordeaux before the buds open, as a 

 regular practice, may find it a paying investment to add a little poi- 

 son for this insect, the bud-moth, and several other pests. Professor 

 Slingerland also recommends jarring in the same manner as for 

 curculio. 



The Cigar Case-Bearer.* This very interesting little creature is 

 occasionally so numerous as to cause injury to apple and pear. The 

 larva makes a case in a manner similar to the resplendent shield- 

 bearer. This little case resembles a minute cigar about one-fourth 

 of an inch long. It is very carefully described by Professor Slinger- 

 land in Bulletin No. 93 of the Cornell University Experiment Sta- 

 tion. The larva is said to make two cases during its lifetime, one in 

 the fall, curved and very small, and one in the spring in which the 

 pupal stage is passed. It attacks the buds as they swell, and later 

 feeds on fruit and foliage reaching out from the case and mining 

 under the skin of the leaf. The adult is said to be steel grey in color 

 and spreads less than half an inch from tip to tip of its wings. It 

 may be controlled by early sprays of paris green, applied when the 

 buds open, and also at the time when the trees are sprayed for the 

 codling moth. Usually it will be found expedient to add the poison 

 when spraying with Bordeaux for the scab, thus reducing the ex- 

 pense. (Bui. 24 Mich. Agr. Exp. Sta.) 



The Pistol Case-Bearer. This insect is a moth of a general dark 

 drab color. The larva is the destructive form and lives within a case. 

 The cases are of a dark brown or black color, more or less covered 

 with grayish pubescence from the leaves. Their form is aptly de- 

 scribed by the word pistol-shaped. A careful examination of one of 

 these moving pistol-shaped objects will reveal its inhabitant, an or- 

 ange-colored, black-headed caterpillar about one-fourth of an inch in 

 length. Thus the insect has quite a wide range of food-plants, in- 

 cluding three orchard fruits, apple, cherry, plum, and probably the 

 chestnut. Beginning on the swelling buds, the case-bearers continue 

 their destructive work on the opening leaves and flowers, showing a 

 decided preference for the flowers. 



The pest can be controlled by spraying twice before the buds 

 open with 1 Ib. Paris green to 200 gals, of water or a fungicidal 

 solution. 



The Palmer-Worm. This pest does all of its destructive work 

 in the caterpillar stage of its life. Even when full grown, this 



* See illustration on page 637. 



