440 



HARDY FRUIT GARDEN. 



covered with a yellowish web, to protect them 

 during winter. The female moth is much larger 

 than the male, and of a whitish grey, having 

 the fore wings marked by brownish stripes. 

 The male is dark brown, with three or four 

 blackish stripes on the fore wings. This is one 

 of the most voracious of caterpillars, particularly 

 destructive to apple and other trees in town 

 gardens. In autumn, as soon as the leaves fall, 

 the trees should be examined, as at that time 

 the masses of eggs may be readily discovered 

 under their yellow covering, which they do not 

 seem to conceal, as they are in general attached 

 to the bare trunk or larger branches. The female 

 may be easily caught in August, sitting on the 

 trunks of the trees ; and the caterpillars, towards 

 the end of June, will be found basking on the 

 exposed trunks of the trees, and may easily be 

 destroyed. 



The lunar spotted-pinion moth, Noctua (Cos- 

 mia) pyralina, appears in June and July. Fore 

 wings brownish red, almost copper-coloured, 

 marked with several dark-brown transverse lines. 

 Under-wings lightish grey, darker towards the 

 edges, which are yellowish. The caterpillars are 

 thick, fleshy, and green, with ten dark lines along 

 the sides, and a white stripe along the back. They 

 make their appearance in April, and continue 

 growing till the end of May, when they become 

 transformed into a bluish-coloured pupa. They 

 are exceedingly destructive to the foliage and 

 flower-buds of the apple, and are often found on 

 other fruit trees also. Both in their moth and 

 caterpillar state they are easily captured, by shak- 

 ing the tree suddenly, which causes them to drop 

 to the ground. A cloth should be spi'ead under 

 the tree to receive them, for in both states, if 

 not carried off and destroyed, they would re- 

 ascend and commence their destructive opera- 

 tions again. 



The pale brindled beauty - moth, Geometra 

 (Amphidasis) pilosaria, is occasionally found 

 on the apple tree, but more generally on the 

 pear, which see. 



The grubs of the Bacchus, or purple-apple 

 weevil, Curculio [Rhynchites) Bacchus Schonh., 

 fig. 187, like those of the codlin moth, come 

 into existence within the 

 Fig. 187. fruit of the apple. Kollar 



\ thus describes its habits : 



**^JM^4*^ " It is found early in spring 

 % if w on ^ ne ^ ru ^ trees, and only 



JF mjj> § begins the work of repro- 

 ^^^^^ duction about midsummer. 



To effect this, it selects the 

 ^?^^TV--^ smooth side of the apple, 

 ^H||^^ot1P^ bores a hole in it with its 

 Cli^'''nl'Bffife \ P r °boscis, and proceeds to 

 X^ili ; T'|-|llM form a roomy chamber in 

 "^^Hit-I' 1 : ill^ heart of the fruit. It 



'k'^Ww^^ m trance, pushes it in with 

 \ I its proboscis, and closes 



the opening ; at the same 

 time arranging the epider- 

 mis partly with its probos- 

 cis, and partly with the 

 purplf-apple extremity of its body, 

 weevil. so as to cover the hole, 



of which, by means of a glutinous moisture 

 which issues from its mouth, it finishes securing 

 the entrance. This operation is no sooner over 

 than it bores a second hole near this chamber, 

 in which to deposit another egg. It sometimes 

 happens that it deposits three or four eggs in 

 one apple before it leaves it for another. The 

 grub, which is whitish, with a black head, is 

 hatched from the egg in the course of a few days, 

 and immediately begins to eat the food that is 

 so near it, making its apartment larger and larger 

 by eating deeper into the apple. It generally 

 advances as far as the core ; and, like the cater- 

 pillar of the codlin moth, it makes itself a pas- 

 sage to the surface of the apple, probably to 

 throw out its excrement, or to admit more air. 

 The larva attains its full size in three or four 

 weeks, and resembles the caterpillar of the cod- 

 lin moth, but is not so much of a flesh colour, 

 although about the same size. It leaves the 

 apple when it is ready for transformation, and 

 hides itself in the earth, from which, in the follow- 

 ing spring, it reappears as the Bacchus weevil." 

 Although attacking the fruit of the apple in very 

 much the same way as the codlin moth, it is 

 readily distinguished from it, as its larva, like 

 that of all weevils, is destitute of feet. The 

 trees should be gone over before the fruit 

 is half grown, and every one removed that 

 has the appearance of being perforated. In the 

 beetle state they may be greatly reduced by 

 shaking the trees suddenly, during June and 

 July, when the beetles will fall from the leaves, 

 and may be collected and destroyed, few of 

 them escaping if a canvass cloth be spread under 

 the tree for them to fall upon. 



Curculio {Rhynchites) alliaria of Fabricius, 

 although attacking other fruit trees as well as 

 the apple, may be here noticed as a small 

 beetle, scarcely 1 line in breadth, and 1^ lines 

 in length, of a steel-blue colour, attacking the 

 young shoots, and often seriously injuring re- 

 cently-put-on grafts. When the young shoot of 

 the tree or graft is about 9 inches long, the 

 female begins operations in a very curious and 

 instructive manner. Kollar, who appears to 

 have watched her proceedings, thus describes 

 them : " As soon as she has reached the most 

 suitable part of the shoot, she marks the place 

 by a prick, or by a small cut, where she intends 

 to cut off the bud or shoot. She then recedes 

 about a line upwards, and begins (with her head 

 turned downwards), on the side that is not next 

 the tree, to bore it with her proboscis, till she 

 reaches the middle of the shoot. With it she 

 also widens the chamber, and prepares it for 

 her offspring. She then places herself over the 

 entrance, and lays an egg, which is pushed in by 

 the proboscis, and conveyed to the proper place. 

 This operation lasts an hour. Immediately after, 

 the female returns to the former place, to cut 

 off the shoot, moving it from the one side to the 

 other with her proboscis until she has cut it a 

 certain depth ; she then gives some decided 

 thrusts, which she continues without fatigue till 

 the shoot only hangs by the under part. When 

 she observes this, she gets up on the point of the 

 twig to make it fall over by her own weight. It 

 not unfrequently happens that it falls imme- 



