190 LEl'IDOPTEKA (MOTHS). 



tlio trees ; this should all be destroyed in the winter. Fowls 

 and pigs turned into the orchards in late summer do much good 

 in lessening their numbers. Spraying with arsenites directly 

 the blossom has fallen kills the larvcS as they enter the apple, 

 for their first bite is arsenic that has lodged in the calyx. 

 Needless to say, cleaning off rough bark and destroying it in 

 winter is beneficial, for by so doing many pupre in their cocoons 

 are destroyed. 



Another noxious Tortrix is the Pea Moth {Grapholitha 

 pisana), whose larvie inliabit pea-pods, living partly in the peas 

 and so spoiling their market value : this small slaty-grey moth is 

 only half an inch across the wings. The female lays her eggs 

 in the quite young pea-pod before it is properly formed. 



A great number of Tortrix larvfe feed on apple, pear, and 

 plum, spinning the leaves and blossom together. Quite fifty 

 per cent of the damage done to fruit-trees by leaf-eating larvae 

 is caused by these little sixteen-legged caterpillars, Avhose parents 

 are both winged. Thus "grease-banding"' the trees, a practice 

 largely in vogue amongst fruit-growers as a winter moth pre- 

 ventive, is rendered valueless, for we must wash the trees to 

 clear these culprits off, and the winter moth larvse would be 

 killed at the same time. The eggs of the majorit}- of the Tor- 

 trices which so attack fruit-trees may be found on the trees 

 during the winter, and can be destroyed by the alkali wash. 



The commonest species found are Tortrix riheana, T. heparana, 

 and Penthina piruniana. Several others also occur in great 

 numbers amongst fruit foliage. 



Tineinae are small moths, having long narrow wings with 

 long fringes of hairs (fig. 88, d). Some are very small. At 

 least one-third of our British moths belong to this group. The 

 larvse vary in regard to the number of their legs ; sixteen is the 

 usual number, but in the genera &racUaria, Lithocolletis, &c., 

 there are only fourteen, whilst in Nepticula there are eighteen ; 

 in Antixpila the larvas are quite apodal. The larvse vary as 



