The Pecan Case-Bearer 
John B. Gill, Bureau of Entomology, Monticello, Fla. 
Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen : 
The most injurious insect affecting pe¬ 
can culture in Florida is the case-bearer 
known to science as Acrobasis palliolella 
Rag. It would be well to adopt the 
term—pecan case-bearer—'for the com¬ 
mon name of this species, and thus do 
away with much confusion. In many sec¬ 
tions of the pecan belt I have found grow¬ 
ers referring to this species as the bud- 
moth or bud-worm, and of course, the lar¬ 
vae do injury to the buds, but since we 
already have a common pecan insect 
known as the bud-moth, why not use the 
name—case-bearer—for this pest. This 
name is very appropriate for during its 
entire existence as larva and pupa, it lives 
within a case which does, however, as¬ 
sume various designs and is attached to 
the tree in different manners throughout 
the course of a year. 
As stated before the case-bearer is the 
most serious pest attacking the pecan in 
this state. The larvae, as they emerge 
from their winter cases (hibernacula) 
which are snuggly packed around the 
buds, attack the buds often before they 
have a chance to unfold. When the in¬ 
festation is severe, the larvae destroy 
nearly every bud on the tree and at a dis¬ 
tance the entire tree takes on the appear¬ 
ance as if a fire had destroyed its unfold¬ 
ing buds. If the “worms” are numerous, 
the trees will have a hard struggle to put 
forth foliage as fast as it is destroyed. 
Pecan trees are sometimes kept defoliate 
for several weeks in the early spring on 
account of the ravages of this insect. 
Where the young leaves do get a start the 
larvae web them together by means of 
silken thread and construct their cases 
amid these leaves, which soon become 
badly eaten up and in many instances wilt 
and dry up. The injury is not wholly 
confined to the buds and younger leaves, 
for the older, well-developed leaves are 
often eaten full of irregular holes. As 
the larvae destroy both the blossom and 
leaf buds they often are accountable for 
a short nut crop in badly infested or¬ 
chards. 
DESCRIPTION 
» 
At this time of year the case-bearer is 
found as larvae securely protected in cases 
that are attached to the foliage. These 
cases are an aid to one in readily determ¬ 
ining the species. These cases are made 
of particles of brownish excrement along 
with bits of disintegrated bark that are 
closely woven together with silken threads 
and lined inside with a smooth compact 
surface of grayish white silk. They vary 
in length from three-quarters of an inch 
to an inch and are slightly enlarged in 
the middle. The case when the larva is 
nearly matured is always attached by 
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