4 BULLETIN 113, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGEICULTUEE. 



riety, showing no discrimination against it : the mines, however, are 

 never developed to any great extent, for the tissue of the leaf about 

 the mine turns dark and apparently hardens, effectually stopping the 

 operations of the insect. Many larvae must thus meet their death, 

 being unable to secure food. This is another instance illustrating 

 the resistant qualities of the Kieffer variety of pear. 



CHARACTER OF THE INJURY. 



The first attack by the larva? of Recurvaria nanella in the spring 

 is aimed at the swelling buds (PL II. figs. 3 and A) of both blos- 

 soms and leaf. The insect bores into the bud. eating the tender 

 tissues as it goes, showing particular partiality for the young stamens 

 and pistil, if it has been lucky enough to select a blossom bud. As 

 the buds open and the leaves begin to expand the larva ties the tips 

 of the leaves together, spinning about them a tiny silken thread, 

 thus greatly deforming and hindering the succeeding leaves as they 

 develop (PL I. fig. T). It is this injury, when inflicted by countless 

 numbers of this tiny caterpillar on nearly every bud on a tree (PL 

 I, fig. 1). that results in a serious, if not almost total, loss of the crop. 



SYNONYMY. 



Recurvaria nanella. 



Tinea nanella (Schiff.) Hiibn.. 1796 (?), Tine^e, pi. 39, fig. 267. 



En ota pruniella Schiff., 1776, Syst. Verz. Schmet., C. 75. 



Tinea aleella Fab.. 1794, Ent. Syst., t. 3, pt. 2, p. 317. 



Recurvaria nana Haw., 1829, Lep. Brit, x. 4, p. 554. 



Triclwtripis nanella Hiibn., 1S16, Verz. bek. Schmet., p. 425. No. 4143. 



Anacampsis nana (Haw.) Curt., 1S27, Brit Ent, t. 4, pi. 1S9. 



Anaeampsis aleella (Fab.) Steph., 1S29, Syst Cat. Brit Ins.. pt. 2. p. 197. 



Geleclxia nanella (Hiibn.) Her.-Schaf., 1S53-1S55, Syst. Bearb. Schmet., t. 



5. No. 416. 

 Recurvaria nanella (Hiibn.) Heinem., 1870, Die Schmet. Deutsch. u. d. 



Schweiz.. Ed. 2, p. 280. 

 Aphanaula nanella (Hiibn.) Meyrk., 1895, Handb. Brit. Lep.. p. 580. 

 Recurvaria cratagella Busck, 1903, in Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus.. v. 25. p. 811. 



DESCRIPTION OF THE LESSER BUD-MOTH. 



THE ADULT. 



The adult (PI. II. fig. 6) of Recurvaria nanella, or lesser bud- 

 moth, is a very small streaked moth with a wing expanse of half 

 an inch, although as it appears on the tree trunks it is not more 

 than one-fourth of an inch long: the black and white banded legs 

 are quite conspicuous. The following technical description is as 

 given by Busck for R. cratcegella (1903) : 



Antennae whitish, with indistinct, narrow, dark-brown annulations. La- 

 bial palpi whitish, with two black annulations on each joint; tip white. 

 Face, head, and thorax white, suffused with fuscous. 



Fore wings white, thickly sprinkled with fuscous.. From near the base 

 of the costa is an outwardly directed, oblique, ill-defined black streak, which 



