The iris borer is a cousin of our old friend, the cutworm. They 

 are, however, alike only in general appearance and in being 

 among the meanest of all garden visitors. Even the moth which 

 mothers this despicable gangster seems to be ashamed of her 

 part in his life, flying by night, and by day hiding her drab 

 form among garden trash, or in sheltered corners. So far as 

 her life history seems to be known at the present time, she 

 emerges from the soil beneath the iris roots, where the mature 

 borers have pupated, from mid-September to October, and lays 

 her pale yellow, flattish eggs, about one-fiftieth inch in diam- 

 eter, in clusters in the folds of the leaves at the base of the 

 plant, apparently preferring the dried outer leaves to the grow- 

 ing ones. The eggs remain here during the winter and hatch in 

 April or May, or even as late as June, according to the season — 

 somewhat earlier in the southern states and later in the more 

 northern ones. 



As soon as the tinj^ caterpillars hatch, they crawl or eat their 

 way into the sheath or fan, producing the characteristic frayed 

 effect of the leaf edges as the latter, later on, grow out of the 

 sheaf. Later, they work into the leaves, mining inside of them, 

 where they continue to work for five weeks to two months, 

 gradually increasing in size. During this period the location of 

 the borer is indicated by a dark, water-soaked area in the leaf's 

 surface. Later, at about flowering time or soon after, for later- 

 flowering varieties, he burrows into the rootstock or rhizome, 

 often destroying a growing eye or bud as he goes, and then 

 proceeds to eat out a good part of the center of the root. When he 

 leaves the root to enter the soil beneath it to pupate in a tender- 

 skinned, small, chestnut brown chrysalis, he leaves behind him 

 a cavity, often a mere shell. Some authorities claim that the 

 "bored" roots provide ideal conditions for the development of 

 the root-rot disease ; others believe there is no connection be- 

 tween the two ; personally, I have never found any convincing 

 evidence of the former theory. 



Control. AYhile there has not yet been developed any quick, 

 sure method of complete control, the ravages of the borer may 

 be satisfactorily checked in most home gardens by taking the 

 following steps. The first conspicuous sign of danger is likely 

 to be the knicked leaf edges. Examine carefully to detect small 

 borers within the foliage, as indicated by the green puncture 

 spots ; the tips of individual leaves may be cut off and burned. 

 Afterward, watch carefully for any signs of a borer lower 

 down. As they become larger, their presence in the foliage is 

 more readily detected. When small, they may be crushed by 

 squeezing the leaf between thumb and finger ; when larger, they 

 may be killed with a wire. Little or no damage is done to the 

 plants by the eating of the leaves. 



i 13 Y 



