56 
JOURNAL OF ECONOMIC ENTOMOLOGY 
[Vol. 11 
ing orchards in the region of Seneca Castle, by Messrs. Maney and 
Rupert, Horticultural Inspectors of the State Department of Agricul¬ 
ture. The orchards were in the immediate vicinity of nursery planta¬ 
tions, and the infestation of the trees unquestionably occurred during 
1916, when moths originating from eggs on imported apple seedlings 
sought neighboring orchards for purposes of oviposition. Notwith¬ 
standing the presence of other kinds of fruit, the infestation was en¬ 
tirely confined to apple trees. 
The occurrence of the insect on apple and not on cherry raises the 
question to which species it belongs,—to padellus or malinellus? As 
we have previously pointed out, the moths of the former species are 
exceedingly variable in their markings, and unfortunately the identifi¬ 
cation of the two species seems to rest largely upon color distinction of 
the adult insects. In spite of seeming morphological and biologic 
differences, the separation of these insects is difficult and unsatisfac¬ 
tory; and there exists consequently considerable uncertainty as to the 
actual status of these two forms. The adults of padellus reared from 
cherry and hawthorn particularly, and of malinellus from apple repre¬ 
sent for the most part extremes in wing coloration. The former con¬ 
tains a majority of moths which have the primaries and fringes clouded, 
greyish or lead colored, while the latter has a majority of moths with 
primaries and fringes white. The two are distinct enough when 
characteristic examples are selected, but the separation of them be¬ 
comes difficult when the intergrading forms are considered, as they 
merge into each other by imperceptible gradations. 
In order that the moths recently bred from apples should be cor¬ 
rectly identified, specimens were forwarded to Dr. Paul Marchal, Paris, 
who has devoted considerable attention to these insects, and in a letter 
dated October 20, 1917, he reports as follows: “The Hyponomeutas 
which you forwarded to me have arrived. They were in rather bad 
condition as the wings of two specimens were detached; however they 
agree well with the species H. malinellus. They are distinguishable 
from padellus by the front wings, the ground color of which is white, 
while the margins, examined from below, are finely bordered with 
white. The fringe of the anterior wings is also mostly white, and not 
grey as with padellus. Although the moths are considered distinct 
species I am not at all certain but that under certain conditions one 
form may produce the other. It cannot be positively denied that they 
are not two varieties of the same species.” 
Breeding experiments are needed to definitely settle the status of the 
two moths, but until these are undertaken the example of European 
writers may well be followed of designating the insects bred on haw¬ 
thorn and cherry as padellus and those from apple as malinellus. 
