502 MISC. PUBLICATION 657, U. S. DEPT. OF AGRICULTURE 
within the larval gallery in April or May. Measures to control this 
insect are the same as for Zeuzera pyrina. 
Famiry NEPTICULIDAE 
The Nepticulidae are a family of minute moths, some having a wing 
expanse of less than 1% inch, and include many species whose larvae 
are leaf miners on many of our common deciduous forest and shade 
trees. A few are miners in the bark, and in one genus, H’ctoedemia, 
there are several gall-making species. Annette F. Braun, in 1923, 
discussed this family, the genera, and many species that occur in the 
Eastern States (see Forbes /65). The moths are not frequently 
seen because of their minute size, retiring habits, and very rapid, 
irregular flight. The larva is slightly flattened, and the head is rather 
deeply retracted into the prothorax. When full grown, most larvae 
leave the mines, drop to the ground, and spin dense flattened cocoons 
in the duff. 
The larvae of species in the genus Vepticula begin their feeding by 
making linear mines, and may continue by gr adually broadening the 
mines throughout their course, or some may enlarge them into a blotch 
mine. The mining of any one species, however, is constant and char- 
acteristic In appearance, and in most instances the mine may be used 
for the identification of the species. The number of generations vary, 
a few species have only one in a year, and others may have as many 
as four. The larvae in the genus £’ctoedemia form galls on twigs or 
petioles, or are miners in the bark of twigs. So far as is known, the 
species in this genus have one generation a year. The larvae of Hctoe- 
demia populella (Busck) form almost globular galls, about the size 
of a pea, on the petioles of poplar leaves (fig. 125). Those of 
FE. castaneae Busck form cylindrical galls encircling young twigs of 
chestnut (fig. 126), and those of £. heinricht Busck make flattened- 
oval, spiral mines in the bark of young branches of pin oak. The 
larvae of £. phieophaga Busck make serpentine mines in the bark of 
chestnut, and the wounds in the bark resulting from these mines offer 
favorable places for blight infection. 
Famity INCURVARIIDAE 
The Incurvariidae are a small family, and so far as is known, the 
females are furnished with piercing ovipositors, the eggs being depos- 
ited in the tissues of the food plants. Many of the larvae are miners 
in early life, later becoming casebearers. There is one well-known 
species of economic importance in North America, the maple leaf 
cutter (Paraclemensia acerifoliella (Fitch)). The moth of this 
species has a wing expanse of from 1% to 4% inch. The forewings are 
of an iridescent steel blue with a purplish reflection. The hindwi ings 
are pale smoky brown, translucent, and bordered with a fringe of long 
hairs. The head is orange, the antennae are black, the legs whitish, 
and the abdomen is dark brown. The egos are soft, white, and ellipti- 
cal, and are deposited in pear-shaped pockets made by the female in 
the tissues of the leaves. The larva when full-grown is about 4 to 144 
inch long, slender, and somewhat flattened. In general it is a dull 
white with a broad longitudinal dorsal stripe, and the head and tho- 
racic segments are a pale rusty brown. The pupa is light yellowish 
brown, about 59 inch long, with a transverse row of short, stiff, brown, 
