AMERICAN PLUM BORER. 
9 
condition of the moths in confinement is of course quite unnatural. 
The greatest number of eggs laid by one female was 74. In one 
instance only 24 eggs were deposited in a cage containing 2 females 
and the minimum is stated as 12, although it is of course possible that 
only one female was ovipositing. 
Girault, May 8, 1905, gives a record of three adults, emerging in the 
inscctary at Washington, that deposited 78 eggs, an average of 26 
eggs each. No observations were made in the field that would throw 
any light on this part of the insect's life cycle. 
LENGTH OF LIFE OF MOTHS OF SPRING BROOD. 
The length of life 3 of 17 adults is given in Table V. 
Table V. — Length of life of moths of the spring brood of the plum borer, Winchester, Va., 
1913. 
No. of 
Length 
No. of 
Length 
moths. 
of life. 
moths. 
of life. 
Days. 
Days. 
1 
3 
2 
11 
1 
4 
1 
12 
2 
6 
2 
13 
1 
7 
2 
15 
1 
8 
1 
18 
1 
9 
1 
23 
1 
Total . . 
10 
17 
139 
Ma 
23 
3 
Mil 
Lverage... 
J 
8.2 
These moths were supplied with sweetened water. Several cages of 
moths were given nothing in the way of food or water and several were 
given water alone. The observations were too limited to justify the 
drawing of any conclusions as to the influence on longevity of sugar 
and water compared with water alone, but those given neither, as a 
rule, lived only a few days after oviposition. 
The moths fed upon sweetened water lived from 3 to 23 days, the 
average of 17 observations being 8.2 days. No data were obtained 
upon the relative longevity of the sexes. 
HABITS OF THE MOTHS. 
When resting the moth assumes the characteristic position seen in 
Plate II, figure d, the wings tightly folded, the legs pulled in closely 
and set far back under the abdomen. The rigid posture of the body 
and the blending of the ashy grays and dark browns of the fore- 
wings produce to the human eye at least a close resemblance to a 
short twig. During the day the moths remain in this posture for 
hours at a time, and until the eye has become accustomed to this 
