214 



Insect Pests. 



now and then into June. Tlie female places her ova in the young 

 currants, where the small caterpillars pass tlie first stages of their 

 life. These early stages were followed l)y Chapman (2), who records 

 the egg-la}'ing process as follows : " The niotli sits upon the currant 

 and penetrates it in the lateral region, on one occasion the process 

 occupii>d three or four minutes, on another, only about thirty seconds. 

 The dates were from the 17th to liOth of May. On examining one 

 of these currants, which ^\"as rather more than half grown and with 

 seeds still very soft, two eggs of lyiiiifclln were found lying free in 



riG. IS;;. — TlIK RA^PBEKKY SIIhuT MuTH ffilcl'n 



Larva, aiUilt and lai^-a in slmot. 



:<ipltMl(). 



{l-Iorace Knight. 



the ovarian cavity ; in another, the cavitv contained two snch pairs 

 of eggs. 



The ova are colourless and lemon-shaped, about 0'67 mm. lono-. 



The small caterpillars which hatch from these eggs feed upon the 

 seeds. The fruitlets become prematurely coloured and in June and 

 July the small caterpillars leave the fruit and spin up small white 

 cocoons on the bark, under the rind or on the bud scales. At this 

 time the little larvie are only about -j-V inch long, of an orange-red 

 colour, with rufous head. 



In tills stage the winter is passed, and in the spring the little 

 larv;e cmwl forth and bore into the buds and shoots. Thev tunnel 

 up the shoots after destroying varidus Ijuds and cause them to flag 

 and ilie. At lirst tlie lar\:e are ))right red, but before beconiiug 

 mature they lieconic greenish m greenish-white. Stainton (3) 



