BUD MOTH 15! 



But when all is said and done, the aphis is still a very 

 difficult insect to control and it is fortunate that bad outbreaks 

 of it do not occur more frequently. 



Curculio. Both the plum and the apple curculios work on 

 the apple, but the former is a far more serious pest. They are 

 both " snout " beetles, but the plum curculio is of a dark, 

 brownish-gray color and has a short snout, while the apple 

 curculio is reddish-brown in color and has a long, slender snout. 

 For present purposes, however, they may be considered 

 together. 



Life History. They hibernate as adult insects in the grass 

 or trash about the orchard and emerge in the spring about 

 the time that the trees bloom. They feed for a time on the 

 buds, leaves and even blossoms, but soon attack the fruit, and 

 the females begin laying eggs in small punctures in the skin of 

 the young apples, the plum curculio cutting, in addition, a 

 crescent-shaped incision above the incision where the egg is 

 deposited. On apples most of the eggs do not develop and the 

 damage results from the scars, which cause the fruit to be- 

 come misshapen and unsalable. With plums and peaches the 

 larva? usually do develop and produce the white " worms " of 

 the fruit, all too common in many orchards. 



The most effective treatment for the curculio is spraying 

 with arsenate of lead, using 3 pounds to 50 gallons of water, 

 within a week after the petals fall from the blossoms. This is 

 the same spray which is most important for the codling moth, 

 so that one kind of treatment will control these two serious 

 pests. 



Bud Moth. This is a very interesting insect from the 

 standpoint of its life history, which is quite unusual. The egg 

 hatches in the summer and the little " worm " is dark brown 

 with a shiny black head. It grows to perhaps an eighth of an 

 inch in length and then prepares a little nest for the winter. 

 This little nest or burrow is usually located in some crevice 

 of the bark near a bud, and considerable experience is necessary 

 to find it, as it is very difficult to detect. About the only indica- 

 tion of its whereabouts is a bit of leaf, or a small scale of bark, 



