272 FRUIT AND ITS CULTIVATION. 



webby habitations at nightfall and during wet weather. 

 The larvae are bluish-grey, striped orange and white, and 

 spotted black. They measure about if in. when fully 

 grown. In June and July the larvae spin silken cocoons 

 either among the leaves or in crevices of the bark, and 

 reappear as moths in the course of a few weeks. Spray- 

 ing in May or June with arsenate of lead will kill the 

 larvae. The webs, too, should as far as possible be cdt 

 off, and the bands of eggs removed as soon as seen. Burn 

 all prunings. (Fig. 127.) 



Ermine Moth (Hyponomeuta malinella). In some 

 seasons the larvae of this moth prove very destructive to 



Fig. 127. LACKEY MOTH and LARVA (BOMBYX NEUSTRA). 



the foliage of the Apple. The moths appear in July and 

 August, and the females deposit their eggs in small 

 patches on the' twiggy growths. The eggs are covered 

 with a glutinous matter, which hardens and forms a sort 

 of case over them. The eggs hatch out in early autumn, 

 and the tiny larvae remain under the protective covering 

 until the buds begin to develop; then they commence to 

 feed on the young leaves and the flowers. Later they 

 spin a web, and under tHis devour the whole of the 

 soft parts of the leaves. At first the larvae are of a 

 yellowish tint, but when more advanced the colour is an 

 ash-grey, spotted black. Late in June they form cocoons 



