378 



Insect Pests. 



The female places a single egg in each unopened Ijlossom, 

 puncturing the Ijlossom, according to Kollar (4), in the notched part 

 of the calyx, making an oliliqne ojjening, and immediately introduces 

 its egg into the deepest ]-iart. Tlie egg is very minute, greenish- 

 whitrand transparent. It hatclies in a few days (variously estimated 

 from a veeh to a fortnight), and tlieu the young larva forces its way 

 into the embyro fruit and feeds on tlie developing kernel. 



When one fruit is damaged it eats its way into another. 1 found 

 that the larva' sent me from Boss, some of which were nearly lialf 

 grown, attacked two plums before they were mature. 



The larva is creamy-white, in some cases having a faint pinld.sh 



tinge, the tail end is 

 somewhat attenuated 

 and the position usu- 

 all)' slightly curved, 

 the head lirown, the 

 six jointed - legs are 

 pale 1;irown and there 

 are six pairs of pale 

 prolegs and an anal 

 pair. When full grown 

 the length is about I. 

 inch when expanded. 

 The inside of the quite 

 small plums are com- 

 pletely hollowed I >ut, 

 but in the larger fruitlets a space is merely shown around the kernel 

 whicli tlie larva has devoured. This cavity is sometimes filled with 

 moisture and decayed matter, but when the larva^- are within, is 

 usually cpite clean. No smell could l)e detected in any sent me, 

 such as is described l.iy Ormerod (2), possibly the specimens she 

 received had lain together some time in the box, for it was noticed 

 that wliere this was allowed the fruitlets became a wet putrid mass 

 in a few days. 



( )n reaching maturity the larva' leave the fruit and enter the soil. 

 Those received in 1907 pupated from tlie 17tli to the 26th of duly, but 

 in 1005 some had entered the soil by the oth of the same month. In 

 a few days I tVauid the>' had spun small, roundish oval, brownish 

 cocoons, of the size shown in the photograph (Fig. 240), fairly close 

 to the surface ; they were spun up in the sand and very difficult to 

 detect owing to the sand sticking to them, Init the parchment-like 

 cocoons wore bniwnish in colour. The hiv\;r remain in these t'ases 



\lhinhr Ki 

 •J.'iO.— THK l'I,U:\I FIM'IT ^A^VFLY (ITfJi/ocanqia fi'h-icii 



