﻿THE 
  SPRING 
  CANKER 
  WORM: 
  ITS 
  HABITS. 
  173 
  

  

  beginning 
  of 
  March 
  to 
  the 
  middle 
  of 
  April, 
  in 
  the 
  latitude 
  of 
  Missouri 
  j 
  

   two 
  weeks 
  later 
  in 
  Massachusetts 
  — 
  rarely 
  coming 
  out 
  during 
  the 
  first 
  

   mild 
  weather 
  that 
  succeeds 
  the 
  first 
  frosts 
  in 
  November; 
  and 
  on 
  warm 
  

   days 
  during 
  the 
  winter 
  when 
  the 
  ground 
  is 
  thawed. 
  Many 
  which 
  we 
  

   bred 
  in 
  the 
  winter 
  of 
  1869-'70 
  issued 
  during 
  the 
  warm 
  weather 
  of 
  

   January. 
  

  

  Dr. 
  Le 
  Baron 
  observed 
  them 
  in 
  Illinois 
  from 
  March 
  7 
  to 
  April 
  7, 
  1871. 
  

  

  Dr. 
  Packard 
  says 
  that 
  in 
  1875 
  none 
  had 
  appeared 
  in 
  his 
  garden 
  in 
  

   Salem, 
  Mass., 
  before 
  the 
  10th 
  and 
  11th 
  of 
  April, 
  the 
  season 
  having 
  been 
  

   a 
  very 
  backward 
  one. 
  During 
  these 
  two 
  days, 
  which 
  were 
  warm 
  and 
  

   fine, 
  he 
  counted 
  about 
  one 
  thousand 
  males 
  and 
  two 
  hundred 
  females, 
  

   mostly 
  stuck 
  to 
  the 
  inked 
  bands 
  on 
  fourteen 
  apple 
  and 
  three 
  elm 
  trees. 
  

   This 
  is 
  in 
  the 
  proportion 
  of 
  one 
  female 
  to 
  five 
  males. 
  He 
  says 
  that 
  he 
  

   suspects 
  that 
  the 
  males 
  fly 
  about 
  one 
  or 
  two 
  days 
  before 
  the 
  appearance/ 
  

   above 
  ground 
  of 
  the 
  females. 
  

  

  Mr. 
  Mann 
  says 
  that 
  of 
  16 
  dated 
  specimens 
  of 
  the 
  male, 
  1 
  was 
  taken 
  

   in 
  March 
  and 
  15 
  in 
  April; 
  of 
  nine 
  females, 
  all 
  were 
  taken 
  in 
  April. 
  He 
  

   presents 
  negative 
  evidence, 
  also, 
  that 
  the 
  species 
  does 
  not 
  appear 
  in 
  

   the 
  fall 
  or 
  the 
  winter 
  in 
  eastern 
  Massachusetts, 
  where 
  his 
  observations 
  

   were 
  made. 
  

  

  The 
  moths 
  are 
  crepuscular 
  in 
  habit 
  ; 
  that 
  is 
  to 
  say, 
  most 
  active 
  in 
  

   the 
  evening 
  soon 
  after 
  dark. 
  During 
  the 
  day 
  they 
  usually 
  rest 
  quietly 
  

   and 
  concealed, 
  the 
  front 
  wings 
  of 
  the 
  male, 
  when 
  at 
  rest, 
  being 
  turned 
  

   back, 
  so 
  as 
  to 
  entirely 
  cover 
  the 
  hind 
  wings, 
  and 
  overlap 
  on 
  their 
  inner 
  

   edges. 
  

  

  At 
  the 
  height 
  of 
  the 
  pairing 
  and 
  egg-laying 
  season, 
  the 
  females 
  may 
  

   be 
  seen, 
  in 
  multitudes, 
  making 
  their 
  way 
  up 
  the 
  trunks 
  of 
  the 
  trees, 
  

   alone 
  or 
  attended 
  by 
  one 
  or 
  more 
  of 
  the 
  males, 
  hardly 
  pausing 
  for 
  the 
  

   caresses 
  of 
  their 
  attendants, 
  but 
  pressing 
  pnward 
  to 
  fulfil 
  the 
  one 
  purpose 
  

   of 
  their 
  existence. 
  The 
  female, 
  by 
  means 
  of 
  her 
  horny 
  and 
  extensile 
  

   ovipositor, 
  thrusts 
  her 
  eggs, 
  to 
  the 
  number 
  of 
  from 
  fifteen 
  to 
  one 
  hundred 
  

   and 
  fifty, 
  singly 
  or 
  in 
  irregular 
  masses, 
  and 
  with 
  only 
  enough 
  of 
  a 
  glutin- 
  

   ous 
  fluid 
  to 
  attach 
  them 
  slightly 
  to 
  each 
  other 
  and 
  to 
  their 
  surround- 
  

   ings, 
  within 
  some 
  sheltered 
  or 
  secret 
  place, 
  usually 
  near, 
  sometimes 
  even 
  

   between 
  the 
  leaflets 
  of 
  the 
  expanding 
  buds, 
  sometimes 
  even 
  close 
  to 
  

   the 
  ground, 
  on 
  the 
  trunk 
  of 
  the 
  tree, 
  oftenest 
  under 
  loose 
  scales 
  of 
  bark. 
  

   Sometimes 
  the 
  eggs 
  are 
  deposited 
  in 
  cracks 
  in 
  the 
  wood, 
  or 
  in 
  holes 
  

   made 
  by 
  borers, 
  and 
  frequently 
  in 
  places 
  where 
  the 
  young 
  larvae 
  can. 
  

   not 
  possibly 
  get 
  anything 
  to 
  eat 
  when 
  hatched. 
  They 
  have 
  been 
  found 
  

   in 
  dried 
  apples 
  which 
  adhered 
  to 
  the 
  trees 
  through 
  the 
  winter, 
  and 
  the 
  

   female 
  is 
  very 
  fond 
  of 
  availing 
  herself 
  of 
  the 
  empty 
  cases 
  of 
  the 
  Eascal 
  

   Leaf-crumpler, 
  Acrohasis 
  nebulo.^^ 
  

  

  Appearance 
  of 
  the 
  worms.— 
  The 
  eggs 
  hatch 
  at 
  about 
  the 
  time 
  

   when 
  the 
  young 
  leaves 
  of 
  the 
  api)le 
  tree 
  begin 
  to 
  push 
  from 
  the 
  bud, 
  

  

  88 
  [Figured 
  in 
  our 
  Fourth 
  Mo. 
  Kept., 
  p. 
  38, 
  fig. 
  18.] 
  

  

  