THE LESSER BUD-MOTH. 7 



In the field the moths were found in large numbers resting on 

 the trunks of the trees. They remained motionless until touched, 

 and even then often flew only a short distance, taking a new position 

 on the same trunk. As many as 15 were counted on the shady side 

 of the trunk of a small Kieffer pear tree. However, the insects did 

 not confine themselves to the trunks of the trees alone, but were occa- 

 sionally found resting upon near-by weeds or upon the branches and, 

 in a few cases, upon the leaves. 



All attempts to feed the moths in captivity failed. They appar- 

 ently refused to taste the brown-sugar sirup offered them. Nor were 

 attempts to obtain eggs in confinement more successful, as the insects 

 would not oviposit under the unnatural conditions of the rearing 

 cage. 



EGG STAGE. 



Although a most diligent search was made for the eggs of the 

 lesser bud-moth, no trace was found of them. This failure is in a 

 measure due to the fact that nothing of the habits of the insects was 

 at that time known to us. The adults were seldom observed any- 

 where except at rest on the tree trunks, although without doubt they 

 deposit their eggs on the underside of the leaves singly, as evidenced 

 by the location of the entrance opening to the leaf mines. Eggs in 

 the egg tubes of the females were observed when dissected, but 

 nothing of their appearance after oviposition could be surmised. 1 



LARVAE STAGE. 



It is in the larval stage that Becurvaria nanella spends most of its 

 life. In Benton Harbor the eggs commenced hatching about July 15. 

 The larvse at this time are very small, measuring scarcely more than 

 1 mm. in length. They at once bore through the epidermis of the 

 leaf on the underside and commence the construction of a most 

 curiously shaped mine in the inner tissues of the leaf. (See PL II, 



The larva first eats its way in a small circle, then constructs a 

 main burrow which soon divides, the branches in turn again dividing, 

 often after the manner of the branching of a tree. The form of these 

 mines, however, is by no means regular, but shows considerable 

 diversity. The insect does not finish the construction of any branch 

 of the mine at once, but feeds at will in all parts, keeping the whole 



1 As this paper is going to press, specimens of eggs of the lesser bud-moth have been 

 received from Mr. E. H. SiegTer, of the Bureau of Entomology, who has been successful in 

 obtaining them from moths confined in glass jars, at Benton Harbor, Mich. Some of the 

 eggs received had been loosely deposited among the hairs on the underside of an apple 

 leaf, singly or several sticking together, for the most part along the veins of the leaf. 

 Another lot had been deposited on a twig under the edge of a small scale. The egg is 

 oblong, inclined to be cylindrical, though irregularly so, and is flattened where it comes 

 in contact with another in the cluster. It is minute in size, measuring about 0.32 mm. 

 long by 0.2 mm. broad, and is pale, shining yellow in color. 



