251 
case, like that of the Apple-leaf Crumpler, is composed of excremen- 
tition castings compactly woven together with silk, and the whole 
lined with the same material. Before winter sets in or the leaves fall, 
the worm partly grown removes its case from the leaf stalk and at¬ 
taches it to the twig where it passes the winter to finish its growth 
in the spring. 
The moth very closely resembles the one from the apple, so much 
so in some specimens that were it not for their different habits and 
food plants they might be regarded as different forms of the same 
species. In the annexed cut, c shows the characters of P. nebulo , a 
variety of the same bred from crab-apple, while d represents the 
wings of P. juglandis, the colors being the same. Dr. LeBaron in his 
description of these insects in his second report says of this, “The 
principal interest that attaches to it is its close relationship to the 
species just described involving the curious question of identity of 
species, under diversity not only of the coloration of the imago, but 
also of the food plants and habits of the larva.” Without entering 
into the discussion of this question it is evident, whether we com¬ 
pare these two species or many other closel} 7 related ones that may be 
found in this and other orders that the perplexing question of the 
definite limits of species is not settled nor can it be settled without a 
more complete knowledge of their habits and forms in all their states 
than we now have. 
Myelois convolutella, Zell.—The Gooseberry Worm. 
This has been known as Pempelia grossularia , being first described 
me ^f .Packard, but in his “Guide to the Study of In¬ 
sects” he uses the name I have adopted here. 
1 have not at hand specimens of this and will give Packard’s des¬ 
cription of the insect with its habits from his Guide. He says : “The 
moth is pale gray with a dark, transverse, diffuse band on the inner 
third of the wing, enclosing a zigzag white line not reaching the costa. 
There is a discal discoloration, and beyond, a white zigzag line with a 
long, very acute angle on the internal margin, and a row of marginal 
black dots, while the apex is white, and the veins and their branches 
white; it expands nearly an inch. As soon as the gooseberries and 
currants are well formed, many turn prematurely red and dull whitish, 
which is due to the presence of a pale green, smooth worm, which 
after eating out the inside of one berry, leaving a hole for the passage 
of the excrement, enters another berry making a passage way of silk 
until it draws together a bunch of currants or two or three gooseber¬ 
ries. During the last of June it pupates, while the moth does not 
appear until the spring of the following year.” I know of no remedy 
unless the affected fruit could be gathered and destroyed. 
Phacellura nitidalis, Cramer.—The Pickle Worm. 
The caterpillar of this beautiful moth, known as the Pickle Worm, 
bores cylindrical holes into cucumbers, melons or squashes, causing 
