73 



case was the larva found, though sometimes a 

 dead, brown area was seen within each of them. 

 This latter condition is mentiftned earlier in the 

 report under the heading of "Gumming." 



In the dry cactus-belt — e.g., Arizona, New 

 Mexico, and Western Kansas — as well as in 

 Florida, the destructive work of the Melitara 

 spp. was commonly seen. In all these cases the 

 injury was of the same type as that described 

 (C.I., p. 27) as being caused by the Western 

 Texan form of M. junctolineella, though the 

 species were different, the moth from New Mexico 

 and Arizona being probably M. fernaldialis; the 

 Kansas species, M. dentata; and that in Florida 

 M. prodenialis. 



At Mesilla Park, New Mexico, Melitara 

 larvffi were found boring down into the stems of 

 0. whipplei, while near Tucson, Arizona, they 

 were seen to attack other Cylindropuntias, 

 including 0. arhuscula, 0. fulgida, 0. spinosior, 

 and 0. mammillata. Frequently no indication of 

 the presence of these large grubs was to be seen 

 externally, beyond the presence of a small 

 blackened area with or without a mass of black- 

 ened gum, which marked the upper end of the 

 tunnel in which the larva lived. Sometimes the 

 affected stem was sickly in appearance, and not 

 infrequently death was the result. 



The effect of the same or an allied species 

 of Melitara larva was seen to be much more 

 marked in the case of the flat Opuntias. At 

 Mesilla Park, Dr. Merrill directed attention to 

 the results of their activity on 0. dulcis, 0. 

 chlorotica, and 0. hlakeana (?) growing in the 

 grounds of the Agricultural College at Mesilla 

 Park, New Mexico. In one joint no less than 

 thirty small brown larvee were found by us to 

 be present, while attached to a spine subtending 

 the spot where the entry had been effected was 

 a string of eggs. Dr. Merrill believed that the 

 loeal species attacked only the flat Opuntias. As 

 already described, the larvaa hollow out the in- 

 fested segments, which then generally dry up. 

 An aperture is made through which a large part 

 of the excreta is voided. Several caterpillars. 

 Dr. Merrill stated, might be found in one joint. 

 After working their way downwards, sometimes 

 reaching the base of the plant, they bore their 

 way out of the Opuntia and may pupate at some 

 distance from it, the adults emerging during late 

 August. He regarded this insect as being more 

 destructive than the cactus beetle, Moneilema, and 

 offered to assist, if desired, in obtaining specimens 

 for transportation to Australia. He thought that 

 the eggs would perhaps be the best stage to 

 send, but failing them, then the pupa might be 

 utilised. The only parasite which he had 

 observed was an Ichneumonid. 



Besides the typical Melitara first referred to, 

 Dr. Merrill stated that he had observed another 

 insect whose larva acted in exactly the same way 

 in attacking flat Opuntias, but only one at a 

 time was found in a joint, and apparently the 

 grub confined itself to one segment instead of 

 passing down into others. He observed that it 

 pupated in the ground in a breeding cage, the 

 moth being larger than Melitara, which it closely 

 resembled. The insect probably belongs to this 

 genus. 



Near Tucson, Arizona, Melitara injuries 

 were noticed by us occasionally in joints of a 

 flat Opuntia, 0. arizonica. 



Near Wallace, in Kansas, they were 

 observed very commonly in 0. missouriensis, 

 caused by a Melitara which was probably 

 M. dentata, whose destructive work in Eastern 

 Colorado was referred to by Kellogg in 

 1892. Dead, hollow joints, each with one or 

 more apertures associated with insect excreta, 

 were very frequently noticed, and it was not an 

 uncommon sight to see whole plants destroyed. 

 Occasionally the small Mammillaria occurring in 

 this locality was found to be hollowed out and 

 killed. The injury extended from joint to joint 

 in the case of the Opuntia. Sometimes the unat- 

 tacked distal segments grew after reaching the 

 ground, the insect thus acting as a planter in the 

 same way as has been noted in regard to Monei- 

 lema. A few cocoons and pupae of Melitara were 

 found under fallen joints and adjacent grass and 

 in hollowed segments. 



This locality was visited by the Commission 

 through information received from Mr. E. Popenoe, 

 of the Bureau of Entomology, who stated that 

 a beetle, Moneilema armatum, had caused con- 

 siderable destruction of prickly-pear there. 

 Though fragments of a Moneilema were found by 

 us, there is no doubt that the greater part of the 

 damage seen was caused by Melitara, yet it is 

 quite probable that the beetle assisted. 



Visits were paid to two localities in Florida, 

 indicated by Mr. Schwarz, where the work of 

 Melitara prodenialis might still be seen in pro- 

 gress. These were Crescent City and Lake Worth 

 (West Palm Beach). In the neighbourhood of 

 the former, with the exception of a few plants of 

 the low-growing 0. opuntia (0. nana) no prickly- 

 pear was met with during the short stay there. 

 At Lake Worth, however, on the sandy ridges, on 

 the east side of Palm Beach township, the weevil 

 Gerstceckeria hulhardi, as well as the Melitara, 

 was found to be feeding on it. Hubbard had 

 previously recorded the presence of these two 

 enemies (1895, p. 130), but did not consider that 

 the beetle and moth were associated in causing 

 the destruction of Opuntia in this district, but 

 that the cavities excavated by the caterpillars 

 served as "lurking places for the weevil Acalles 

 hubbardi," as it was then called. We sometimes 

 found both insects present in the same plant, 

 while at other times one or other was met with. 

 Prickly-pear was growing sparsely, and the 

 species appeared to be on the verge of local exter- 

 mination. The plants were stunted, all those 

 examined either having been damaged or else 

 being then attacked, especially by the caterpillars 

 of Melitara prodenialis. Partial or complete 

 destruction was the result of the infestation, the 

 injuries resembling those produced by M. dentata. 



Unidentified bluish- green larvae were found 

 in tunnels in the fruit of 0. versicolor at Tucson, 

 Arizona. 



Melitara, sp.? — Dr. Merrill (Mesilla Park, 

 New. Mexico) informed the Commission that he 

 had observed the presence of a small unidenti- 

 fied moth which laid its eggs in a naked mass on 

 the outside of the flat Opuntias. The young 

 larva, on hatching, at first clustered around the 

 egg-mass and lived under a thin web, feeding 

 on the surface of the young leaves. Later on 

 they bored into the tissues, where they acted like 

 the Melitara caterpillars, passing downwards from 

 joint to joint, and ultimately pupating and 

 hatching at the same time as Melitara, but the 

 adult was a much smaller insect. 



