270 Annual Report for J-906 of the Zoologist. 
Towards the end of June the caterpillars, still very small 
(about the twelfth of an inch long), come out of the fruit 
and the attack is over for the season. In the Gloucestershire 
attack of 1891 Dr. Chapman caught some of the tiny grubs 
in the act of emerging from the currants and watched them 
till they went into winter quarters under the dead scales 
of old buds, where they covered themselves with a white 
cocoon and remained inert, only partially grown, until the 
attack was renewed in the following spring. It appears, 
therefore, that the moth can pass the whole cycle of its 
existence without leaving a currant plant, though of course the 
insect will often select the fruit of a neighbouring bush 
for the purpose of laying its eggs. It is not, however, yet 
certain that the winter is always spent upon the currant twigs. 
It is quite likely that many of the prematurely ripened infested 
currants may fall to the ground with the caterpillars still 
within them, and these, when they emerge, must then find 
some other winter retreat. 
A. Schmid says that the “ case-caterpillars ” (Sackraupen) of 
I. capitella may be found on beeches in winter, and the habit 
of wandering about with a protective “ case ” is somewhat 
characteristic of the near relations of this insect, though it is 
not stated that the identification was verified by breeding out 
the moth. This is a point which still demands investigation. 
Treatment. — In cases of severe attack it is certainly 
advisable to cut away and burn the diseased shoots as soon 
as they show signs of injury, at whatever sacrifice of fruit for 
the year. If such drastic measures do not seem necessary, 
there are certain points in the life-history of the pest which 
suggest possible methods of coping with it, especially in small 
plantations. The hibernating caterpillars in their cocoons 
are visible as little white specks at the bases of the buds, and 
they might perhaps be reached by a winter wash and at all 
events in part destroyed. 
The next vulnerable stage of the insect is that of the 
chrysalis hidden under the curled bark of the currant stems. 
Mr. Hewitt thinks that a good deal could be done on the small 
scale by rubbing down the stems with the gloved hand. This 
is, of course, only possible between the time when the cater- 
pillars leave the shoots and the time when the moths emerge, 
and the best time would usually be about the second week in 
May. 
In the third place some advantage might perhaps be taken 
of the premature ripening of the fruits in which eggs have 
been laid. If they could be removed and destroyed before the 
grubs come out to seek their winter quarters it would do much 
to forestall the attack of the following year. 
