88 



geles County upon a species of Oak ; a third species was bred in the Santa 

 Cruz Mountains feeding originally upon Geanothus thyrsiflornSj but it 

 was extremely abundant also .upon fruit-trees, especially prunes and 

 plums. I also found eggs of one of these moths in Shasta Valley upon 

 a species of wild Currant. Of all the species the most abundant upon 

 fruit-trees was C. ihoracica, originally feeding upon Willow. This 

 species defoliated most of the trees in Napa and Sonoma Counties last 

 year. Oo my visit to Sonoma County this month (October), I found 

 numerous old skins still present everywhere upon apple trees. They 

 were either G. thoracica or G. constricta, — these two larva? resembling- 

 each other somewhat. Fortunately the eggs as well as the larvae are 

 preyed upon by numerous parasites. Professor Kivers, of Berkeley, in- 

 formed me that of one egg-mass of G. constricta each egg produced a 

 small hymenopterous parasite. I have myself bred something similar 

 from egg-masses on Geanothus cordulatus. The old remedy* will be 

 found best, viz, cut off and burn the egg-clusters during the winter, 

 aud collect and burn the nests in spring. 



CUT WORMS. 



Various Koctuid larva? are usually numerous and destructive to 

 orchards, vineyards, grain, aud vegetables during spring, attacking the 

 young foliage, twigs, and even fruit of trees, while in vineyards they 

 often defoliate large numbers of the vines. As yet I have never been 

 able to obtain any specimens of these larva? from the injured field for 

 breeding. Dr. Behr, of San Francisco, has shown me one larva that 

 had been received from Santa Cruz, where they injure the vines ; he did 

 not, however, succeed in breeding them and the species is as yet not 

 known. The larva? bore the closest resemblance to those of Agrotis 

 messoria Harris (cocliranii Biley),t yet many of these Agrotid larva? 

 resemble each other so closely that their distinction can not be made 

 with any certainty. A similar insect, if not the same, was bred from 

 the eggs. (No. 378k). During September and the first of- October, 

 1887, many of these moths came to sugar at Alameda, and were at the 

 time the most common of all so collected, A number of them were con- 

 fined in boxes but no eggs could be obtained until the middle of Octo- 

 ber. The eggs were of a straw-yellow color at first and after ten days 

 changed to a dark grayish color, showing that the embryo had come to 

 maturity. The young larva?, however, did not come out before the 

 rains set in, December 8, at which date they began to issue and con- 

 tinued to appear into January, 1888. They were kept and fed in a room 

 and attained full growth in about five weeks, pupating at the end of 

 March and issuing as moths one month later. This peculiarity of 

 hibernating either in egg, larva, or pupa state during the dry season 

 has been observed in numerous other insects in California, which are 



*Professor Riley's Third Missouri Report, p. 120. t Ibid, pp. 74-76. 





