*/2 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 



of the shoots, the tip hanging because the interior is gnawed away 

 until only the thin bark remains. There is a similar record of this 

 insect injuring corn in New England, though nothing of the kind 

 appears to have been brought to notice in recent years. This 

 borer completes its growth about the middle of June and conse- 

 quently damage to corn, if it is inflicted, must occur while the plants 

 are still small. The moths appear the latter part of June and have 

 been taken in New York as late as mid- August. It is very probable, 

 as in the case of some of the allied stalk borers belonging to the 

 genus Papaipema, that the insect winters in the egg stage, the young 

 caterpillars commencing operations shortly after growth starts in 

 the spring. If this surmise as to its life history is correct, it is obvious 

 that injury in corn fields must either be limited to the margins near 

 wild growth or to fields which have been indifferently cultivated 

 and infested with thick-stemmed plants which would prove attrac- 

 tive to the moth when ovipositing. 



Gooseberry fruit worm (Zophodia grossulariae Pack.) . 

 This insect is so rare that it is seldom brought to the attention of 

 the economic entomologist, especially in the eastern United States, 

 and the opportunity is therefore taken of placing on record a few 

 observations made upon infested plants near the southeastern 

 border of the State. The larvae were rather abundant in a small 

 gooseberry and currant patch at Stamford, Conn., June 29th. The 

 pale green, indistinctly striped, brown-headed caterpillars, about 

 three-fourths of an inch long when full grown, enter the goose- 

 berries and devour the interior, causing the infested fruit to color 

 prematurely and turn brown. There is usually more or less fungus 

 accompanied by a slight webbed protection above the entrance to 

 the fruit. It was not uncommon to find two or three injured goose- 

 berries in close proximity, having been entered presumably one 

 after the other by the caterpillar. In the case of the smaller currants 

 several of the berries are drawn together in a webby mass, the cater- 

 pillar eating out the contents of a number. The infestation was 

 such that 50 to 75 per cent of the gooseberry crop and an appre- 

 ciable portion of the currants in a small planting were destroyed. 

 The winter is passed in the pupal stage, the moths appearing shortly 

 after the fruit has set. . 



Ordinarily this insect can not be considered a serious pest and hand 

 picking or allowing poultry, when practical, to run among currant 

 and gooseberry bushes, are the most promising methods of checking 

 the insect. 



