60 



CIRCULAR 2 7 0, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 



Worms coming from eggs laid by these moths feed for a time in the 

 maturing fruit and then leave it and spin the silken nests in which 

 they hibernate. There are thus two complete generations in a season. 

 No satisfactory measures for controlling this pest have been worked 

 out. 



Snowy Tree Cricket 



The snowy tree cricket (Oecanthus niveus (Deg.)) occurs throughout 

 the Pacific Northwest, but is of economic importance only in southern 

 Idaho, where it does considerable harm to prunes by eating holes in 

 the ripening fruit. Early in the season the young feed on the foliage, 

 but this injury is of little consequence. About the first of August the 



prunes are sufficiently ripe to 

 attract the crickets, and after that 

 time both young and adults feed 

 on them instead of on the foliage. 

 Small holes are made in the skin 

 of the fruit, and the flesh is eaten 

 out, large cavities often being 

 formed (fig. 67). 



Much of the injured fruit drops 

 prematurely and the remainder is 

 unfit for market. It is impossible 

 to sort out all of the slightly injured 

 prunes; and if any of these are 

 packed, they are very likely to rot 

 and cause a considerable loss in the 

 packed product. The tree cricket 

 also occurs on apple and other trees 

 and on shrubs. The usual program 

 of spraying for the codling moth 

 prevents the tree cricket from 

 becoming injurious to apples, and 

 it has not caused noticeable injury 

 to any other crops. 



LIFE HISTORY 



Figure 67. 



-Prune injured by snowy 

 tree cricket. 



The eggs are laid in the fall in 

 punctures in the bark of prune and 

 other trees, where they remain 

 through the winter. They hatch 

 late in May or in June, and the 

 young nymphs, which are light green or white, feed on the foliage of 

 fruit trees and cover crops for about 6 weeks, molting at intervals 

 and increasing in size. After molting five times the crickets are 

 fully grown. The adults are slightly more than one-half inch long, 

 light green or yellowish. The female (fig. 68) has narrow, transparent 

 wings, and the male has somewhat broader wings. There is but one 

 generation a year, and the adults may be found in the orchards from 

 July until frost occurs. 



