FARMERS BULLETIN 843. 



in various localities in Texas. 

 Until very recently this in- 

 sect has not been reported 

 in the cultivated orchards 

 east of Texas, but within 

 the last few years it has 

 become a serious pest in 

 some localities in Florida, 

 Georgia, Alabama, Missis- 

 sippi, and Louisiana. It 

 would seem that this species 

 is extending its range of destructiveness, and in view of the large 

 acreage of pecan orchards now bearing or coming into bearing, sooner 

 or later it probably will prove a most formidable pest throughout 

 the greater part of the pecan belt. 



FIG. 1. The pecan nut case-bearer (Acrobasis 

 Moth. Much enlarged. 



DESCRIPTION. 



In the course of development the pecan nut case-bearer passes 

 through four distinct stages, namely, the egg, the larva or "worm," 

 the pupa or resting stage, and the adult or moth. The grayish- 

 black moth (fig. 1) has a wing spread of about three-fourths of an 

 inch. The head and thorax are brownish and the abdomen is yellowish 

 gray. The forewings are grayish black 

 and each has a ridge or tuft of long 

 black scales extending across it near 

 the basal end. The hindwings are 

 much brighter than the forewings and 

 without any conspicuous markings. 



The egg is irregularly oval in out- 

 line. When first laid it is white, with 

 a greenish tinge, but as incubation 

 proceeds it becomes pinkish or reddish. 

 It is iridescent in some lights. 



The full-grown larva, or caterpillar 

 (fig. 2, at right), is about one-half inch 

 in length, and the general color of the 

 body is dirty olive green. The skin 

 of the body is wrinkled into folds and 

 is sparsely covered with inconspicuous 

 hairs. The head and mouth parts are 

 dark brown, and the cervical shield, 

 or neck, is pale brown, bisected by 



. . . i IG. 2. The pecan nut case-bearer: Pupa 



an inconsplCUOUS Whitish-yellow area. at left, larva at right. Much enlarged. 



