2 BULLETIN 571, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



HISTORY. 



The pecan leaf case-bearer (Acrobasis nebulella) was first described 

 by Riley in 1872 (l), 1 under the name PJiycita {Acrobasis) nebulo 

 Walsh var. nebulella, from a single specimen reared from wild crab 

 (Crataegus sp.). In 1887 Ragonot (2) described this insect as a 

 "new species," naming it Acrobasis palliolella, and in the following 

 year Hulst (3) also described it as "new to science/' under the name 

 Acrobasis albocapitella. In 1890, in Hulst' s article on "The Phyci- 

 tidae of North America" (4), albocapitella Hulst is listed as a synonym 

 of palliolella Rag., and Riley's original description of this insect is 

 given under the name Mineola indiginella Zell., var. nebulella. 

 Ragonot (5), in 1893, in his "Monographie des Phycitinae et des Gal- 

 leriinae," treated Riley's nebulella as a variety of Acrobasis indiginella 

 Zell., and Acrobasis palliolella as a distinct species, giving albocapi- 

 tella Hulst as a synonym. The same classification is given in Dyar's 

 "List of North American Lepidoptera" (7), except that the species 

 indiginella is placed in the genus Mineola. In Florida, in 1901, 

 Gossard, then State entomologist (6), mentioned injury to pecans by 

 Mineola juglandis and Acrobasis caryae, but the writer is of the 

 opinion that some of this injury, if not all, should have been attributed 

 to the pecan leaf case-bearer (Acrobasis nebulella Riley). In 1902 

 Gossard (8) again made brief mention of what was undoubtedly this 

 species under the name "pecan bud-worm." Fiske (9), in 1902, 

 under the caption "Notes on certain injurious insects in Georgia," 

 gave life-history notes and suggested remedies for the pecan leaf- 

 crumpler, which was presumably the insect discussed in this publica- 

 tion. The following year (1903) Chittenden (10) reported damage 

 to pecan buds in Georgia by this species, and Herrick (11), in 1904, 

 referring to Chittenden's report of injury in Georgia during 1902, 

 gave notes on Acrobasis sp. It would appear that the life-history 

 notes given in Herrick's article pertain to the pecan bud-moth 

 (Proteopteryx bolliana Sling.) and not to the pecan leaf case-bearer. 

 In 1905 Gossard (12), still the Florida State entomologist, gave an 

 extended account of this insect, but unfortunately confused some of 

 his notes and photographs on this species with those of the pecan 

 bud-moth. In 1909 Herrick (14) published a bulletin on this species, 

 giving remedies and incomplete life-historj" notes, as based on its 

 occurrence in Texas. During the same year (1909) Dyar (13), under 

 the caption "Notes on the species of Acrobasis, with descriptions of 

 new ones," gave notes on both A. palliolella Rag. and A. nebulella 

 Riley, stating that he "expects it will be found that palliolella is not 

 more than a variety of nebulella Riley." 



Worsham (15), in 1910, made a brief mention of this species as an 

 important pest of pecan in Georgia, and in the following year (1911) 



1 Reference is made by number to "Literature cited," p. 27. 



