I'OiiKGKANATE PESTS. 



179 



The Anar Caterpillar. 1 



The cultivator of the pomegranate (anar) is familiar with the fact 

 that a proportion of the 

 fruit is destroyed by this 

 pest ; in a bad season the 

 proportion is very high ; in 

 normal seasons small. At 

 the time of the blossoming 

 of the fruit tree, the female 



butterfly deposits the eggs FIG. 200. 



, Anar Caterpillar. (Magnified twice.} 



singly on the flowers. The 



caterpillar hatches and bores into the developing fruit, within which 



it lives, The food con- 



FIG. 201. 



Anar Caterpillar. (Magnified twice.} 



sists of the hard seeds of 

 the fruit. The larva is of 

 a dark colour, with short 

 hairs and lighter patches 

 of colour j the hind end 

 is flattened above, form* 

 ing a shield with which 

 the caterpillar is said to 



close the hole it makes in the rind of the fruit. "When full fed, the 



caterpillar comes out of 



the fruit and webs silk 



over the base of the fruit 



and some part of the 



stalk j it then re-enters 



the fruit and turns to 



the chrysalis. Appar- 

 ently the webbing over 



the stalk is to prevent 



the fruit from falling 



to the ground ; the 



behaviour of the cater- 

 pillar in anticipating 



tliis is an extraordinary 



instance of instinct, p le 202. 



Which almost amounts Tlie Anar Caterpillar. (Enlarged.} 



1 05. Tiruchola isoiratvs. Fabr. (Lycecnidoc.) 



N 2 



