288 connecticut experiment station report, i907-i908. 



Abundance. 



From the examination made in the summer of 1906 it was 

 evident that the insect must have been very numerous over quite 

 a section in part of the orchard. They were the most abundant 

 in this section during 1907. A few notes were made regarding 

 the number of larvae and adults, as follows: 



On May isth a shovelful of earth examined contained forty- 

 six larvae. The hole at the greatest diameter measured ten 

 by eleven inches, and five and one-half inches deep at the 

 deepest point. It was two feet ten inches from the nearest tree. 

 This was the first shovelful examined, taken up at random at 

 least two hundred feet from where the insect was found to be 

 the thickest the previous year. The photograph of the holes 

 where adults had emerged (Plate IV), was taken in the same 

 vicinity, the particular spot not being selected on account of 

 the large number of holes, but because it was level and free from 

 rubbish, and is a fair record of conditions on between two and 

 three acres. This photograph was taken natural size on a 5 x 7 

 plate, looking directly down on the ground, and shows thirty- 

 seven exit holes, or a fraction over one to the square inch. In 

 one of the small breeding cages, containing exactly three square 

 feet, which had received no treatment, 132 adults emerged or 

 44 to the square foot. A few wings and parts of sawflies were 

 found which may have been eaten by carabid beetles, and these 

 would have increased the total number. 



The greatest number of adults were seen on a visit to the 

 orchard June 12th. They were especially abundant in an open- 

 ing where a number of peach trees had been cut out ; here they 

 collected in swarms on the grass and weeds. They were so 

 numerous as to make a slight rustling sound. 



Needing adult specimens for our collection, etc., 462 specimens 

 were taken, with an ordinary twelve-inch net, by sweeping it 

 over the grass and weeds for about ten seconds. Twelve eggs 

 were the largest number noted on a single leaf. 



Natural Enemies. 



Considerable tinie was spent looking for parasites, especially 

 of the tgg and larva, but no hymenopterou^ parasite or fungous 

 disease was observed attacking either. Numerous carabid 



