2l8 MAINE AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION, I906. 



of ants had its quarters in some small decaying tree trunks 

 fallen at the base of a clump of alder. Two of the alder stems 

 were .thickly infested with Pemphigus tesselata much visited by 

 ants for the honey dew. In this case the ants had built a cov- 

 ered tunnel from the base of the alder stems to the distance of 

 nearly 2 feet on one stem and more than one foot on another. 

 This structure was composed of sawdust-like particles and 

 enclosed small clusters of the aphids which seemed undisturbed 

 by the proceedings. The stems were upright and one ant 

 tunnel was erected vertically along the stem while the second 

 M^as more or less winding. The ants varied their occupation 

 of extending the tunnel with sipping upon the convenient honey 

 dew. Specimens of these ants were identified by Mr. Theo. 

 Pergande of the U. S. Department of Agriculture as Lasius 

 tnixtus Mayr. 



Larch Case-Bearer, Coleophora laricella Hbn. 



Throughout Washington, Hancock, and Penobscot counties 

 at least, and probably over a larger area a very minute moth 

 has been to work on the larch, (Larix americana) , or hackma- 

 tack, or tamarack as it is variously called.* The insect winters 

 in the larval stage upon the larch and attacks the tender needles 

 when they first start in the spring. Although minute they have 

 been present in such enormous numbers that larch trees have 

 often been, during the past 3 seasons, eaten bare of green early 

 in the spring. The caterpillars feed by eating a hole in the side 

 of the needle and then devouring as much of the inner portion 

 as it can reach. It thus has the characteristic manner of feed- 

 ing common to related leaf miners. The injured needles often 

 continue to grow but the clusters are ragged and many of the 

 needles brown and dry. Small larches in the vicinity of Bangor 

 and Orono which have been subjected to an attack of at least 3 

 seasons died this summer from no other apparent cause than 

 the presence of great numbers of the case-bearers which kept 

 the needles eaten off. Many large larches infested by this 

 insect look yellowish and unhealthy. 



The larva. The caterpillar is a case-bearer, that is, it protects 

 its body with an external covering or case. The larch case- 



* Although so well supplied with popular names of its own, this tree 

 is also erroneously but very commonly called the juniper in Maine. 



