The Pith Moth. 
69 
mentioned as having been particularly troubled with it : W orcester ; 
Herefordshire (Boss) ; Gloucester ; Cambridgeshire (Wisbech) ; 
Bournemouth ; Sussex (especially at Eolegate) ; Surrey and Kent 
generally. 
Life-history. 
This moth belongs to the group of small moths known as Tineinw 
and to the genus Lavevnct. Its wing expanse is a little less than 
half an inch when fully expanded ; the front wings are almost 
entirely black, but may be mottled with black, dark brown and 
rusty brown ; the inner margin of the fore wings is white to beyond 
the middle, where an irregular oblique white bar proceeds to the tip 
of the wing, and two branches from this intersect the black apical 
portion ; the posterior wings are grey and, like all Tineince, have 
long fringes ; the head is almost entirely white. It is subject to 
much variation. Some specimens are almost black ; these Stainton 
considers a distinct variety. The moth appears in June according 
to Stainton, but all those that have been bred or observed appeared 
in July. Some received in 1898 hatched on July 5th, others not 
until the 21st. Difference of locality is sure to account for a 
difference in the time of their appearance. 
The eggs are apparently laid on the leaves ; no definite observa- 
tions have been made, however. In July I found several small 
batches of eggs on an apple tree previously badly attacked by Pith 
Moth, but I am not certain if they were those of the Laverna. They 
occurred in small batches from one-fiftli to one-fourth of an inch 
long ; in form they resembled those of the Bud Moth, viz., flat and 
scale-like and almost transparent. One batch was composed of 
twenty eggs overlapping one another like fish scales. The whole 
surface of the egg is covered with a well-defined reticulate sculptur- 
ing, not the outer part only, as in those of the Bud Moth or Codling 
Moth. Penthina variegccna was seen near this tree, so that it may 
be the eggs were of that insect. 
In any case the eggs, whatever they may be like, give rise to the 
larvae the same summer, and the young larvae feed first on the leaves. 
As winter approaches, the larvae, which are still quite small, bore 
just under the bark of a twig or into the apex of a shoot and remain 
there most of the winter. During January and February the larvae 
tunnel right into a young .slioot and work up the pith (Fig. 8, e). 
In this tunnel the caterpillar lives until June ; its presence does 
not stop the leaves and blossom from unfolding, although later they 
flag, turn brown, and die right off (Fig. 7, b). These dead shoots 
