59 



segments have six brown bristle-bearing spots. When adult, it is 

 one-third of an inch long. 



The pupa is red in colour ; the head and the front of the thorax 

 and the tip of the body are mahogany red. It is cylindrical in shape 

 about one-quarter of an inch long, having black eyes, long and pointed 

 wing cases, and long legs. 



The moths are seen in July, when the eggs are laid on the leaves. 

 Before winter the larvae bore into the shoots and hibernate just 

 below the outer bark, the position being marked by the presence 

 of a small blister and a clear round hole opening into or near the 

 blister mark. 



Early in the next year the larvae tunnel up the pith of the shoots 

 and the fruit spurs. 



They are mature by the end of June, when pupation takes place 

 in the tunnelled shoots, after which there can be often seen the empty 

 pupa-case projecting from the dead shoots. 



Insecticides. — By winter-pruning the wood thus infested can be 

 cut away, the hole in the stem or shoots being a guide where to cut. 

 Or get a piece of thin and fairly pliable wire with a pointed end, 

 and thrust it into the holes, and when the larvae are brought out on 

 the end of the wire put them into boiling water or a strong insecticide. 

 Also inject into the holes, in April to June, a parafi&n emulsion 

 made with 



2^ lb. of soft soap. 

 2 oz. of paraffin. 

 10 gall, of water. 



Keep the liquid in constant agitation in order that the paraffin 

 may not separate out. By injecting this, it will poison the larva's 

 food. 



5. The Vapourer Moth, Orgyia antiqua. Order Lepidoptera. 



This pest also attacks the pear, plum, apricot, strawberry, and a 

 host of other plants, including nearly all the forest trees. 



It is seen in towns nearly as much as in the country, its distribution 

 extending over Europe, Northern Africa, and Western Asia. 



The male and female moths differ considerably. The male measures 

 from one to one-and-a-quarter inch in expanse of the wings ; the 

 body is brown, as are also the wings, the fore wings having dark 

 markings on them, and near the hind angle of these wings is a crescent- 

 shaped white spot ; the antennae are double-combed. The female is 

 yellow-grey in colour, hairy, and cannot fly, as the wings are reduced 

 to mere stmnps ; the antennae are single-combed. , 



The eggs are whitish-grey in colour, almost round, with a flattened 

 upper side, and are laid in great numbers. 



The sixteen-footed larva is very hairy, its colour being light ; 

 also tufts of yellow or brownish hairs are very conspicuous on the 

 back about in the middle, two tufts being on each segment. 



Also there are two dark-coloured tufts springing from behind the 



