THE LESSER BUD-MOTH. 9 



a few cases larvae were noted entering buds which had not begun to 

 swell, but which were still in a dormant state. Over the entrance to 

 the burrow the caterpillar spins a fine netlike web. The larva bur- 

 rows to the center of the bud both by means of eating its way, the 

 material passing through its alimentary canal, and by biting off bits 

 and carrying them to the outside. The latter method is used when 

 the insect is piercing the tough outer layers of the bud. 



Should the temperature drop after a warm day has tempted the 

 caterpillars to come out of hibernation, but before they have had the 

 opportunity to enter a bud, they will seek shelter under loose bark 

 on the limbs. Many larvae were found under the bark on April 16, 

 but by April 23 all had apparently entered buds. 



As before mentioned, the larva upon entering a bud makes its 

 way directly to the center, there feasting on the tender ovary of the 

 unopened flower, provided the insect has entered a flower bud, which 

 the majority do. It is this habit which does the greatest amount of 

 injury (PL I, fig. 1), for often every bud on a large limb will 

 be affected. After consuming the inner portions the larvse feed 

 upon the leafy tissue of the bud, remaining within until the bud 

 expands and the leaves begin to unfold. 



As the first leaves open out, the larva fastens them together, spin- 

 ning its fine strand of silk as it crawls about (PI. I, fig. 2). It now 

 constructs for itself a shelter or cocoon of silk, often rolling over the 

 edge of a leaf and constructing it from within, or bringing the tips 

 of several leaves together and spinning it in the midst, or making a 

 combination of the two methods. As a rule, the larvae during the 

 day are to be found at rest within this cocoon, giving evidence for 

 the supposition that the insects are nocturnal feeders. 



On May 15 it Was noticed that some of the nests in the leaves were 

 empty, and by the next day a large percentage of the larvae had dis- 

 appeared. However, a search revealed the caterpillars under bits of 

 loose bark on thejlimbs and trunk constructing cocoons in which to 

 pupate (PI. H, # #g 5). On large trees where there is a great deal 

 of roughened .bark the cocoons are difficult to locate, but on smaller 

 trees they will be found clustered in the crevices on the trunk; 

 this is especially true on young pear trees, where most of the bark 

 is smooth, affording the insects no shelter. A search among the leaves 

 and debris on the ground beneath the trees revealed a few larvae trans- 

 forming in the shelter there afforded. 



The last crawling larvae in the orchard were found on June 19. 

 Thus the larval stage covers an average period of about 10 months. 



The number of molts of the larva was not accurately determined, 

 the only data taken on this subject being measurements of the width 

 of the head taken at successive intervals during the development of 



