REPORTS OF OBSERVATIONS AND EXPERIMENTS. 25 



issues from the caterpillar of the Tortrix and spins a compact, white, 

 elongate-ellipsoidal cocoon measuring nearly G millimeters in length. 



When about to issue, the parasitic fly cuts a circular lid out of one end 

 of its cocoou, from which to make its escape. 



The second kind of parasite, of which I bred only a single specimen, 

 is a small, grayish black, two-winged fly belonging to the family 

 TachinidaB and apparently to the genua Pliorocera, but the speci- 

 probably as yet undescribed. 



Should the orange leaf- rollers ever appear in destructive numbers, I 

 know of no more effective remedy to use for their destruction than that 

 of spraying the trees with Paris green and water at the rate of 1 

 pound of the Paris green to 200 gallons of water. I have used this 

 preparation on orange trees without in the least injuring the trees upon 

 which it was sprayed. 



It is quite impossible to ascertain to what country this species is 

 native, though I strongly suspect that it was imported into California 

 from some of the Pacific Islands. It is interesting in this connection to 

 note that in his Narrative of an Exploring Expedition (vol. iii / p. 13) 

 Capt. Charles Wilkes states that the oranges grown upon one of the 

 Friendly Islands " do not succeed because they are injured by an insect 

 which leaves its larva on the fruit, and causes it to fall before it reaches 

 maturity." While this description tallies fairly well with the present 

 species, there is also a possibility that this reference is to a dipterous 

 larva belong to the family TrypetidaB, two species of which are known 

 to attack oranges in this manner. 



The Brassy Cutworm (Tcvniocampa rufula Grote). — On the 6th of June, 

 1888, I received a package of green apples, pears, aud peaches from 

 Mr. C. B. Johnson, of Pomona, Cal. The apples and pears had large 

 cavities eaten into them, extending sometimes to the core, and nearly 

 buried in one of the peaches was a naked caterpillar having the gen- 

 eral appearance of an ordinary cutworm. The apples and pears were 

 from three-quarters of an inch to an inch in diameter, and the pearlies 

 were somewhat larger. 



Accompanying this package was the following letter: 



I mail samples of the worm referred to in the Toniona Times, of which you make 

 inquiry in your letter received today; also some fruit samples upon which they 

 worked; viz, apple, pear, peach, and apricot. I found it difficult to get any o( the 

 worms; since the sun has heen shining and the weather warmer they have almost 

 entirely disappeared. I have not heen able to learn of any very serious damag 

 the fruit in our immediate neighborhood. I think they would have destroyed the 

 small amount that I have, but I went around each tree, and inside of a circle of about 

 12 inches in diameter, just at the roots. 1 dag out from L5 to 40 worms to each tree. 



The Rev. J. P. Moody, of this place, tells me today that in his neighborhood he 

 noticed that quite a large hole had been dug around each tree by the chickens, which 

 1 think destroyed the worms. A lady in the southern part of this city Bays that one 

 of her neighbors has found some prunes with the inside eaten out by a worm ot the 

 same description as the one I send you. 



During the cool, cloudy weather they could be found up in the trees throughout 

 the day, and they destroyed llowers and small shrubbery. 



