28 REPORT ON INJURIOUS INSECTS FOR 1 906. 



THE APPLE ERMINE MOTH. 



Hyponomentd inalinella, Zell. 



Numerous correspondents in Leicester, Stafford, Warwick, and 

 Worcester have forwarded the tents formed by the lavae of this moth. 

 With one exception they were all from Apple trees, and were present 

 in great numbers. 



There seems to be some little doubt as to whether the Apple Ermine 

 is distinct from H. padella, L., a species common on the Hawthorn. 

 Having bred both these species during the past season, and given some 

 attention to the matter, I agree with those entomologists who regard 

 the two as distinct. 



From a very general examination it will at once be seen that the 

 species on the Hawthorn is rather larger than that occurring on the 

 Apple, and there are also slight, but fairly constant, differences in the 

 colour and markings of the wings. 



LIFE-HISTORY. 



The moths were first seen on July 2nd, and the first larvae received 

 on June 8th. Only a very few of these were reared, as quite two-thirds 

 were parasited by a small hymenopterous insect, Limneria tibicdis, 

 Grav. Some authors state that the moths appear towards the end of 

 June, and this would appear not at all unlikely. 



The eggs are deposited by the female moth in small circular 

 masses on twigs and branches of the trees, and covered over with a 

 gummy secretion, which, at first yellow in colour, soon resembles the 

 colour of the bark. Each mass contains an average of sixty eggs, 

 which hatch in the autumn, the tiny pale-yellowish larvae remaining 

 within the gummy coverlet throughout the winter. Early in the spring 

 they escape from these nests and make their way into the buds. Here 

 they commence to mine the leaves, tunnelling in all directions, feeding 

 upon the soft layers of cells in the middle of the leaf. The number 

 of larvae in the leaf varies, but ten may be taken as an average. Later 

 they feed upon the leaves and blossoms. By this time they have in- 

 creased in size, and changed from pale yellow to an ashy grey with 

 fine black spots, which colour deepens, and the spots become more 

 conspicuous as the larvae grow older. They now become gregarious, 

 and spend the remaining portion of their larval stage in grey, silky 

 tents, spun between the leaves, and later amongst the twigs (PI. VII). 



These tents are plentiful in May, and continue to increase in size. 

 Towards the middle of June the larvae commence to form cocoons 

 very close to one another, in which they pupate, and the moths appear 

 in about twelve or fourteen days time, 



