77. 



crevice in the bark, gnaws a little more of it away so as to form a small chamber, where 

 it spins a white web over itself. 



" Here in some cases (according to German observations) it turns to the chrysalis 

 immediately, from which the moth comes out in a few days to begin a new attack on the 

 fruit ; or (as recorded in this country) it lives still as a caterpillar for several weeks, and 

 then changes to the chrysalis, in which state it usually passes the winter ; and from this- 

 the moth comes out in the following June. 



"The moth is about three-quarters of an inch in the spread of the fore wings. 

 These have a light grey or ashy brown ground, with delicate streaks, and broader mark- 

 ing's of a dark tint, giving a kind of damasked appearance ; and at the hinder corner is 

 a large spot of a brownish red or gold-colour, with paler markings on it, and a border of 

 coppery or golden colour around it. The hinder wings are blackish." 



The following mode of dealing with this pest is so practical, and has been found so 

 serviceable, that I cannot forbear quoting it for the benefit of those readers who have 

 not the opportunity of referring to the Reports for former years. It is taken from Mr. 

 Saunders' paper on the Codling Moth in the Report for 1874 : — 



" While all other available means tending to the lessening of the numbers of the 

 Codling Moth worms should be unhesitatingly employed, the chief reliance should be 

 placed on the bandages ; use strips of cloth — old carpet or sacking where these can be 

 had — but if these materials are not readily procurable, use paper or cotton. Bandages 

 should be from four to eight inches wide, and either fastened with a string or with a 

 tack at the end, and will be all the better if long enough to go twice around the tree ; 

 they should be fastened about half-way up the trunk of the tree some time during the 

 latter part of June, and be examined every ten days from the first of July until the last 

 of August, and at least once after the crop is secured. Care must be taken in unwinding 

 the bandages to prevent the worms from escaping by dropping to the ground, which they 

 readily do when the cocoons are thus torn asunder. A common clothes wringer to pass 

 the bandages through, is pne of the readiest and surest methods of destroying the worms^ 

 and in this way the bandages can be rapidly handled and re-applied. Be careful and 

 scrape the rough bark off the trees, so that the worms may not find suitable hiding places 

 either in descending or ascending the trunk until they reach the bandage. Attend to 

 these instructions regularly and thoroughly, and try and induce all your neighbours to 

 follow your example, and rest assured that good results will attend united effort." 



3. — The Oyster-Shell Bark Louse. 



This well-known insect is the only other one common to the two countries — except 

 the familiar Apple Aphis [A. mali) — which affects the apple to any conspicuous extent. 

 In England it is usually called the " Mussel-Scale ; " with us it is familiarly known as 

 the " Oyster-Shell Bark Louse." It has long been termed scientifically Aspidiotus con- 

 chiformis, Curtis, but is now, in consequence of fuller knowledge of the subject, described 

 under different generic and specific names, as Mytilaspis pomicorticis, Riley (see his 5th 

 Report, 1873, pages 91-96). 



In our Reports for 1870 and 1871 we gave some account of this insect, but have not 

 referred to it since ; some description of it, therefore, familiar though it may be, will 

 probably be of interest. The common names of the insect, both English and American, 

 are derived from the shape of the scales produced by the creature, and which may be 

 found adhering in enormous numbers to the bark of neglected apple trees. " The scales 

 are about an eighth of an inch long, dark brown, slightly curved and rounded at one 

 end, much smaller and of a rusty colour at the other, and wrinkled across. They adhere 

 firmly to the bark, and on lifting full-grown specimens the females will be found inside 

 the smaller end of the scale (sheltered by it, not fastened to it), the larger end of the 

 scale being filled with fifty or more white oval-shaped eggs. The young scale-insects that 

 hatch from these eggs are very small, flat, and white, furnished with eyes, horns, six legs, 

 and a sucker. These run about with great activity for a few days, but after a while fix 

 themselves and begin to grow, and gradually change in appearance and turn to pupae. 



