in 1968. This insect is also a pest of apple in the Northern States, and attacks 
cherry, hawthorn, plum, quince, and pear as well. It is most injurious in the spring 
when the larvae feed on expanding foliage, flowers, fruit, and fruit stems. 
The palm leaf skeletonizer, Homaledra sabalella (Chambers), feeds on many 
varieties of palms, particularly Canary Island date palm and cabbage palmetto, in 
the Southern States. It is often quite injurious in Florida. The larvae feed in groups 
of 35 to 100 under webs of silk on both the upper and lower surfaces of the leaf 
(264). Eggs are usually laid in masses on the interleaf husks. There are no 
hibernation stages and there may be up to five generations a year. Cutting out and 
burning all interleaf husks and infested fronds is helpful in control. 
Family Agonoxenidae 
Agonoxenids 
Chrysoclista linneella (Clerck), the linden bark borer, an introduced European 
species, was first reported in this country in 1928 when it was found infesting 
basswood trees near New York City. Other infestations were later found in sur- 
rounding parts of New York and New Jersey, and near Boston, Mass. Its current 
distribution is not known. Full-grown larvae are whitish with light-brown heads, 
and are about 6 mm long. Adults are present from late May to mid-June and are 
thought to lay their eggs on the branches of their host. The larvae bore into and 
tunnel the bark. Winter is spent in the larval stage, and pupation occurs in the 
spring in cells formed in the galleries close to the surface of the bark. 
Family Cosmopterigidae 
Cosmopterigids 
Stilbosis ostryaeella (Chambers), a leafminer of ironwood, has been recorded 
from New York, Kentucky, Ohio, and southern Ontario. Its eggs are laid on the 
undersurface of leaves, near the midrib. The larvae feed in the tissues of the leaf 
between two lateral veins, and form blotch-type mines. Full-grown larvae vacate the 
mines in the fall and drop to the ground where they spin thin, loosely woven silken 
cocoons in the litter. Winter is spent in the pupal stage (736). 
Family Gelechiidae 
Gelechiid Moths 
Gelechiid moths are small and have narrow forewings. The outer margins of the 
hindwings are usually concave. The larvae of some feed in folded or rolled leaves 
webbed together; others feed as leafminers; still others feed in buds, seeds and 
cones, and roots. A few species are quite destructive. 
Coleotechnites apicitripunctella (Clemens) occurs in Quebec and in the North- 
eastern States. Its known hosts are eastern hemlock and baldcypress. The adult is 
buff yellow to whitish and has a wingspread of 12 mm. The forewings are marked 
with blackish spots and dots, and the hindwings are fringed. The larva is greenish, 
sometimes with a brownish tinge, and is about 6 mm long. Adults are present from 
early June to mid-July, and the larvae feed for the rest of the summer and fall. They 
mine the leaves and web them together, forming broad, flat nests. A nest may 
contain six or eight mined leaves where the larvae spend the winter. Feeding is 
resumed in the spring, and pupation occurs in late spring or early summer. There is 
one generation per year. Local outbreaks occur occasionally. 
Coleotechnites thujaella (Kearfott) occurs from New Jersey to New Brunswick 
and westward to Saskatchewan, in Canada. The larvae are leafminers on northern 
white-cedar. The adult is creamy white with heavy dustings of black and brown 
scales and has a wingspread of about 9 mm. There are three oblique blackish bands, 
a number of costal and terminal dots, and a shaded apical region on each forewing. 
Eggs are deposited from late June to early August between scalelike leaves on 
135 
