26 FIRST REPORT ON ECONOMIC BIOLOGY. 



THE BUD MOTH. 



Hedya ocelhina, Fabr. 



This is a common insect in Midland orchards, but it has not come 

 under my notice in sufficient numbers until this last year to warrant 

 it being described as a pest. 



Early in 1910 it was received from Worcester, Hereford, and 

 Gloucester. 



The life-history has been worked out by Kollar, 1 Fletcher, 2 and 

 Slingerland, 3 and was previously known to me only from their accounts. 

 During the year I have been able to observe it myself. 



The moths appear towards the end of May or early in June, and 

 the female deposits her eggs either singly or in clusters upon the 

 upper sides of the leaves. It is stated by Kollar that the eggs are 

 deposited " sometimes on the fruit-buds, and sometimes on the leaf- 

 buds only, where they remain all winter, and only come to life the 

 next spring "; but both Fletcher and Slingerland state that the eggs 

 hatch in late summer or early autumn, and that they retain the larvae 

 state through the winter. This agrees with my own observations, but 

 Theobald 1 states that he has " found such small lavae in spring," that 

 he is inclined to fancy that Kollar 's statement is also correct. 



The eggs have a gummy appearance, round and flattened, and 

 overlap one another. The larvae hatch out in from seven to ten days, 

 and at once commence to feed upon the buds and lower surface of the 

 leaves. Attached to the mid-rib they form little silken tubes, or spin 

 a fii.j webbing extending from the. mid-rib to the edge of the leaf 

 beneath which they feed: As winter approaches they make their way 

 to the axils of the buds, and spin silken coverings, to which bits of 

 dirt, algae, etc., are attached, and winter therein. With the swelling 

 of the buds they leave their winter quarters, and make their way into 

 the buds. As the leaves and blossoms develop they bind them together 

 with a silky web, and 1 ultimately pupate amongst the dead leaves. 



PREVENTIVE AND REMEDIAL MEASURES. 



Spraying in the late summer with arsenate of lead will destroy 

 many of the young caterpillars. This should be repeated in the spring. 

 Winter spraying does not seem to destroy this pest. 



1 A Treatise on Insects, Eng. trans., 1840, p. 234. 



2Rpt. Dept. Agric. Canada for 1891, p. 195. 



*Agric. Exp. Stat. Cornell Univ., Div. Entom., Bull. 107, 1896. 



4 Insect Pests of Fruit, 1909, p. 84. 



