520 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF PRACTICAL HORTICULTURE 



shield, while that of the twig miner is 

 the same as the rest of the body. When 

 fully grown, the larvae are one-half inch 

 long and of a dirty gray color. They are 

 not yet full grown with the opening of 

 the buds in spring and will feed upon 

 the blossoms during the entire blossom- 

 ing period. They may mat the blossoms 

 and leaves of a cluster together with their 

 silken threads within which they feed, 

 making it difficult to reach them with 

 spray. 



Life History 



The larvae, like those of the twig 

 miner, winter on the twigs and branches 

 in an immature condition, but while the 

 twig miner excavates a cavity in the 

 bark,, the larvae of the bud moth form 

 minute inconspicuous cocoons on the 

 bark. This is a peculiar habit of a few 

 larvae that form cocoons before reaching 

 maturity. 



As the buds start in spring the larvae 

 leave their winter quarters and begin 

 feeding upon the outcoming leaves and 

 blossoms. They mature in early May, 

 pupate, and in from 10 to 14 days appear 

 as adults. The moths deposit eggs in 

 late May and early June, probably upon 

 the leaves (although this has not been 

 determined). The young larvae feed on 

 the under surface of the leaves and 

 skeletonize them, especially in the vicin- 

 ity of the midrib. So far as known, 

 there is but one generation, although 

 from the shortness of the life cycle, it is 

 apparent that moths from the first brood 

 might produce a second generation that 

 would mature in time to deposit eggs 

 for the spring forms. 



Remedies 



There are three methods of control. 

 The first is to spray the trees before the 

 buds start in spring in order to destroy 

 the overwintering larvae. One applica- 

 tion of crude oil emulsion or kerosene 

 emulsion, applied just before the buds 

 start, would be the most effective means 

 for this. 



The second method is to spray with ar- 

 senicals when the larvae are feeding 

 upon the foliage and blossoms, but they 



are sometimes hard to reach, especially 

 when they have matted the blossoms to- 

 gether. The pome fruits that are well 

 sprayed for the codling moth will not be 

 bothered with the bud moth. 



Third. Recent experiments tend to 

 show that the best time to spray for 

 this insect is in the fall at a time when 

 the larvae are working on the under side 

 of the leaves. This spray applied about 

 September 1, will also help to catch a 

 great many codling moth larvae. 



Fall Web Worm 



Hyphantria cunea Dru 

 The moth producing this caterpillar is 

 white and sometimes has a few black spots 

 on the wings. The larvae hatching from 

 masses of eggs laid on different parts 

 of the trees spin their webs which ex- 

 tend over quite an area. These webs 

 may be noticed in the Mesilla valley by 

 the middle of July on a number of trees, 

 but more particularly on the cottonwood 

 and poplar. The caterpillars will first eat 

 all the leaves within the web, then those 

 nearest by, often defoliating the entire 

 tree. The worm is noticeably set with 



Fit;. 1. Fall Web Worm. a. b. caterpillars: d. 

 moth. (Howard, yearbook, 1895, B. of Ent. 

 U. S. D. A.) 



