563 



POTATO MOTH (Lita Solanella, Boisd). 



Mr. A. M. Lea, writing of this pest in the Agricultural Journal, 

 August, 1895, says that this is perhaps the worst insect pest the 

 potato-growers have to contend against, and says, where in numbers, it 

 will not infrequently destroy almost the entire crop, its tunnels filled 



with excrement 

 going through the 

 tubers in all direc- 

 tions and rendering 

 thjem unfit for 

 human consump- 

 tion ; it also attacks 

 and does very con- 

 siderable damage 

 to the leaves of 

 tobacco, and is oc- 

 casionally seen in 

 tomatoes. 



Seed potatoes 

 often suffer very 



^fif^^^^iV^'^^ S6Vere ty' the I arv 33 



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Poiato Moth (Lita Salanella). 



bore their way into 

 the eyes and 

 entirely destroy 

 their germinating 

 power. It is not 

 only that the tubers 



are attacked, the larvae preferring the leaves to the tubers, as where the 

 tubers have been accidently exposed had been seldom found to be 

 attacked, whilst the leaves were swarming with the larvae. When 

 the tops die off or are cut down by frosts, however, a change takes 

 place, as the larvae desert the leaves in large numbers and wander 

 about the fields, entering any tubers they may come across, even 

 entering frostbitten ones. In captivity they will even attack fresh 

 leaves in preference to the tubers. 



When depositing her eggs on growing plants the moth usually 

 places them close together on the inner side of a leaf, close to the main 

 or one of the- smaller ribs ; the larvae on hatching immediately eats 

 its way into the leaf, hollowing it out in patches, and leaving only 

 the skins of the leaf, which then presents a patchy appearance ; 

 the larvae will often leave one part of a leaf to go to another, and 

 it is in eating their way in that numbers may be poisoned. 



The larvae is a small, pale, dirty-green catterpillar, with a 

 brown head, and when full grown is about half an inch in length. 

 The pupa or chrysalis is pale-brown in colour, and is enclosed in a 

 small silken cocoon, which is nearly always covered with dirt. The 

 moth itself is a small grey insect (the front wings darker than the 

 hind ones) a little more than half an inch across the expanded wings. 

 Remedies. Sprinkle with Nos. 11 or 13. Store under ground 

 if possible. Three oz. in 10 gallons of water. 



