27 



This insect is regarded as double-brooded in Europe, and appears to be so in this 

 country as well, though perhaps not universally. Mr. Saunders, in 1868, reared the moth 

 «arly in August, from fruit gathered late in July, and found young specimens of the worm 

 again quite late in August. Mr. Walsh stated, in his first report on the noxious insects 

 of Illinois, that he was satisfied that there were two distinct broods in the year in that 

 •State. Mr. Riley, in his first report as State Entomologist of Missouri, is of the same 

 opinion as regards his locality. He writes : " The female flits from blossom to blossom, 

 deftly depositing in the calyx of each a tiny yellow egg. As the fruit matures, the worm 

 develops. In thirty-three days, under favorable circumstances, it has become full fed, 

 when, leaving the apple, it spins up in some crevice, changes to chrysalis in three days, 

 and issues two weeks afterwards as moth, ready to deposit again, though not always in 

 the favorite calyx this time, as 1 have found the young worm frequently entering from 

 the side. Thus the young brood of codling moths appear at the same time as the young 

 curculios, the difference being that instead of living on through the fall and winter, as do 

 the latter, they deposit their eggs and die, it being the progeny from these eggs which 

 continues the race the ensuing year." 



Our own opinion is that the insect is double brooded, because we have found fully 

 matured larva in the ripe early Harvest apples in August, and others of the same size in 

 September and October in the ripe autumn apples ; the ,latter we should naturally infer 

 were of a different brood from the former. This, of course, would not be sufficient in 

 itself, but it has weight when coupled with the other testimony given above. This point 

 is important when we come to apply remedies for the insect, for if we take it for granted 

 that there is only one brood, we shall be letting the earlier go scot free. 



Let us now consider the remedies for this pest. The simplest remedy is to gather 

 up all the fruit that falls before the worm has time to leave it, and destroy the enclosed 

 larva by dipping in boiling water, or feeding to pigs. Where practicable, pigs may be suffered 

 to roam through the orchard and gather up the wormy fruit for themselves. This remedy 

 is very good and useful, and indeed a highly advisable one to employ, but it obviously 

 does not affect the worms that have left the fruit before it falls to the ground. To catch 

 these there is an excellent plan, originated by Pr. Trimble, of New Jersey ; it is simply 

 to bind hay ropes around the trunks of the trees, two to each tree, one low down, the 

 other tolerably high up the trunk. These are taken possession of by the worms when 

 looking about for a convenient place in which to make their cocoons, and by carefully 

 examining the bandages every week during the season, large numbers of the insects may 

 be found and destroyed. An improvement on this plan is to substitute rag bandages for 

 the hay ropes — pieces of old carpet will answer very well — take them off every week, 

 pass them through a clothes wringer, or dip them into boiling water, and the worms are 

 all done for ; then replace them on the trees for another set, and so on through the season. 

 To be thoroughly effectual these bandages should be placed around the trees about the 

 first of June and kept on as long as an apple remains upon the tree ; they should be ex- 

 amined once a week ; the trunk of the tree should be kept free from rough or loose bark, 

 and the ground from weeds or rubbish, so as to give the worms no other place of conceal- 

 ment but the bandages. 



One more precaution is still necessary. When the fruit is gathered in the autumn 

 and stored away, there are still a great many worms in the fruit, as no doubt every apple 

 eater has noticed occasionally to his disgust. These often remain for weeks in the apples, 

 and then they come out in the cellar or storehouse and search about for the nearest con- 

 venient hiding place in which to assume the chrysalis state. A very favorite locality is 

 the space between the hoops and the staves of the barrels. We have found hundreds in 

 such positions, especially in the winter of 1868-9 ; and Mr. Riley relates a similar experi- 

 ence. Where this occurs, it is by all means worth while to scald the barrels thoroughly 

 outside as well as inside, as soon as they are emptied, or even to burn them. When boxes 

 or bins are made use of for storing fruit, the worms are sure to find some crevices to suit 

 them, which should be searched for and treated as in the case of the barrels. 



20. The Apple Ourculio (Anthonomus quadrigibbus, Say). — The common plum Cur- 

 culio (Conotrachehis nenuphar, Herbst), of which a full description is given by Mr. Reed 

 in another part of this Report, is known to attack the apple as well as its peculiar fruit 



