500 
Journal of Agricultural Research 
Vol. VII, No. ii 
PUPA 
Description .—The pupa (fig. 8) is normally, depending on the sex, 
from 3 to 4 mm. long, females being the larger. It is at first white, but 
later those parts that are chitinized in the adult become first brownish and 
later dark greenish; this color being really on the body of the adult, 
developing within the pupal skin and 
showing through the latter. The 
legs, wing pads, antennae, and palpi 
are folded along the sides and venter, 
and in the female the ovipositor ex¬ 
tends over the back, reaching nearly 
to the head. 
Pupae period. —The pupal period 
is of about four weeks* duration, some 
ndividuals requiring slightly less and some slightly more than this period. 
ECONOMIC IMPORTANCE 
As has been pointed out on an earlier page, the only commercial fruits 
that are, under conditions of ordinary care, at all heavily infested by 
the seed chalcid are the Lady apple and, occasionally, crab apples, both 
varieties with very limited markets. Also, under normal conditions of 
growth distortion of fruit to such extent as to render it unmarketable is 
rather rare, and infestation by the chalcid apparently has no effect on 
the color of fruit. As pointed out by Crosby and as proven by the obser¬ 
vations of the writer, Lady apples are apparently practically immune to 
the distortion of oviposition. These things being true, it is apparent 
that economically the seed chalcid is of little importance. 
CONTROL OF THE CHALCID 
Natural control. —Apparently the apple-seed chalcid has no specific 
enemies. No records of such are to be found in European or American 
literature, and none has come under the observation of the writer. 
Other apple insects, such as the codling moth, which sometimes devour 
the seeds, undoubtedly destroy a limited number of chalcid larvse, and 
others, which feed in the fallen apples, account for the death of a few 
more. Some adult chalcids doubtless fall prey to birds, spiders, and 
other predators. But all of these together constitute only a very small 
measure of control. 
Mortality among the hibernating larvse is apparently very small 
also; for of 115 larvse found in apples that had lain under the tree all 
through the winter of 1914-15 only three were dead, and each of these 
was in a seed that had been eaten into by some other insect. The mor¬ 
tality in seeds that become separated from the pulp may be higher, but 
as it is almost impossible to find such seeds no data on the point are 
available. 
Fig. 8 . —Syntomaspis druparum: Pupa of female. 
Much enlarged. (Original.) 
