270 



Insect Pests. 



FIO. ]S8. 



COCOI'X UF (iiinSEBI-;i;l;V 



SAWFI.V. 



feed very ravenously ; fifty having been oliser\-ed to strip a moderate- 

 sized gooseljerry bush in three days. 



The earliest date tliat the lar^■a■ were observed in 1901 to reach 

 their full-fed stage was the 3rd of -Tune, when many under observa- 

 tion commenced to pupate. At the same time 

 there were on the liushes quite small larva', not 

 one-third grown. These were also of the first 

 brood, but from eggs laid later than the fully 

 mature ones. It appears that the same generation 

 of pupa- may liatch out over a period of four 

 weeks. 



The larva_- wlien ready, fall to the ground and then Ijury them- 

 selves just under the earth, where they spin a brown or dull 

 yellow case of parchment-like silk, mixed with saliva. This cocoon 

 becomes covered on the outside with little grains of earth, The 

 variety of the colour of the cocoon is very marked, some are very 

 deep cutlee-brown, others pale brown and yet others almost yellow. 

 All the larva', do not enter the soil to pupate, for it is by no means 

 unusual tu find the cocoons spun against and under a leaf or twig 

 lying on the ground. The maj'ority, however, puj)ate in the soil in 

 earth-covered cocoons. The pupa is yellowish-green, often verv 

 pale, with orauge on the thorax and on the apex of the abdomen. 

 Tlie pupal stiige lasts during the summer from ten davs to nearlv 

 tlnee weeks. ]\Iiss Ormerod (2) says tliree weeks. 



The winter is always passed in the larval stage inside the cocoon 

 lieneath the earth, the larva' pupating in tlie eaily spring. 



XU-MTIEI; OF BliOODS OF X. TtlRESII. 



Cameron (.5) says two broods exist. This statement seems to 

 liave been repeatedly copied. From observations made during the 

 last twenty years I find that there are nearly always more than two 

 liroods ; and as man\- as four have been observed. During the vear 

 l'.JU3 three broods had appeared hy duly. The first brood appeal's 

 from April to the end of May: hence we find larv;e of all sizes on 

 the bushes during the late spring. Tlie first hatclied larva:> pupate 

 from the middle to the end of JMay, these hatch out in ;\lav and 

 early in rlune. The larvie of tlu_' second brood have l)een observed 

 to mature by the 20th of June, and from these a tliu'd lirood have been 

 hatched in duly. In 1887 I olitained a fourth generation from 

 these hies, ^\■llich grew rapidly and M-ent to earth on the 2ud of 

 August. 



