Insects Attacking the Pecan 163 



on the loTver surface of the leaves at once. They feed spar- 

 ingly during the summer and grow slowly, barely reaching 

 a length of six one-hundredths of an inch by autumn. As 

 excrement and frass accumulate, the particles are formed 

 into a small case, bound together, and lined with silken webs, 

 spun by the larva. This case, which gives protection to the 

 larva, has one end attached to the leaf ; the other end is open, 

 through which the larva feeds. As the larva eats the under 

 side of the leaf, the upper surface turns brown. The larva 

 begins eating at the spot where the egg is laid, working its 

 way to the right and left as it extends its feeding surface in 

 a fan-shape design. It thus constructs a winding or tortuous 

 tube or case, which is, for a time, much longer than the larva's 

 body. As the larva matures, the case becomes almost straight, 

 being larger at the feeding end. Feeding of the larvae in the 

 summer is not so harmful to the tree as in the spring while 

 the buds are unfolding. 



As cool weather approaches, a short time before the leaves 

 shed, the larvae desert their cases, crawl down the leaf-stems, 

 and take up winter quarters in small oval hibernating cases, 

 called hibernacula, which they construct and attach loosely 

 around the bud. Here they remain in a semi-dormant stage 

 until early the following spring, when the leaf and stami- 

 nate flower-buds begin to swell, at which time they resume 

 feeding. 



All varieties of pecans that have been exposed to heavy 

 infestations of the leaf case-bearer have been attacked. How- 

 ever, a wide difference in susceptibility of commercial sorts 

 has been observed.' Among those comparatively resistant are 

 Moneymaker, Haven, Georgia, Curtis, Russell, Mantura, 



^W. F. Turner. Bull. 49, Ga. State Board of Entomology, p. 13, 



