18 



FARMERS BULLETIN 843. 



the foliage. Upon leaving the winter cases the larvae enter the buds 

 at the tips and partake of their first meal after having spent several 

 months in hibernation. On badly infested trees the buds and tender 

 leaves suffer serious injury (fig. 17), and often the foliage is con- 

 sumed by the larvae as fast as it puts forth. It is not unusual to see 

 pecan trees kept in a defoliated condition for weeks during the spring 

 on account of the attacks of this insect. (See fig. 18.) Since the 



larvae are not at all discrimi- 

 nating in their feeding habits, 

 devouring the blossom buds 

 as well as the leaf buds, they 

 are capable of reducing 

 greatly the yield of nuts for 

 the current season, besides 

 leaving the trees in a more 

 or less weakened condition. 



DESCRIPTION. 



As is the case with all 

 moths, the pecan leaf case- 

 bearer has four distinct 

 stages, namely, the egg, the 

 larva, the pupa, and the 

 adult, or moth. The moth 

 (fig. 19) measures about two- 

 thirds of an inch across the 

 expanded wings and presents 

 a wide variation in color. 

 The head, thorax, and base 

 of forewings and legs are 

 snow-white in the males, 

 but in the females these 

 parts are dusky gray. The 

 abdomen is whitish marked 

 with brown. The outer two- 

 thirds of the forewings is gray, with blackish blotches or spots, 

 which are somewhat variable, and not far from the base of the fore- 

 wings is a reddish brown stain. 



The egg (fig. 22) is oval and white, with a slight greenish tinge. 

 The larva (fig. 20), which is the form that inflicts the injury to 

 buds and foliage, is a dark green, cylindrical caterpillar, measuring 

 a little over a half-inch in length when fully grown. The head is 

 rounded, shiny dark brown or black. The general color of the body 

 is very dark green, except the prothoracic shield, which is somewhat 

 lighter. The skin of the body is very much wrinkled into folds, and 

 the entire body is sparsely covered with fine long hairs. 



FIG. 17. The pecan leaf case-bearer: Injury to pecan foli- 

 age and flowers. 



