XIV 

 CITIZENS OF THE APPLE-TREE 



Many years ago, my old friend, the late Dr. J. A. 

 Lintner, State Entomologist of New York, compiled a 

 list of 356 insects that feed on the apple-tree. Later 

 authorities place the number at nearly five hundred spe- 

 cies. It must be a good plant that has such a host of 

 denizens. The number of fungi is also large; and 

 the tree often supports lichens, algae, and other forms 

 of life. 



The apple-tree is not single in its denizens. No plant 

 lives alone. It has association with its fellows, perhaps 

 contest for space and nourishment. It provides habitat 

 for many organisms, many of which live on its bounty. 

 I have never seen a bearing apple-tree that was not a 

 colonizing place for other living things. We accept 

 these things as matters of course, as being in place, living 

 their part in nature. Therefore, one cannot understand 

 the apple-tree unless one knows something of its 

 citizenry. 



Probably the most prominent citizen of the apple- 

 tree is the codlin-moth. Its larva is the apple-worm, 

 the one that makes "wormy apples," the burrows going 

 to the core and out again. The insect is native in Europe, 

 but has been known in North America nearly two hun- 



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