446 
JOURNAL OF ECONOMIC ENTOMOLOGY 
[Vol. 11 
tion of ether, but this does not mean that some of these might not be 
able to shut out heavy oils or soap solutions. This whole question is 
interesting and if the parasitic lice, ticks, etc., should be found to 
possess this ability of closing the tracheae rapidly, it will have con¬ 
siderable bearing upon the type of dips which would prove most 
effective. A similar cause may be an explanation of the difficulty of 
killing such insects as the tarnished plant bug. It is hoped to give 
this problem further attention at some future date. 
THE CALIFORNIA PISTOL CASE BEARER 1 
COLEOPHORA SACRAMENTA HEINRICH 
By W. M. Davidson, U. S. Bureau oj Entomology, Sacramento, Cal. 
o , 
Coleophora sacramenta Heinrich, Insec. Insci. Mens. II p. 145, 1915. 
Coleophora sacramenta Hein.; Essig, E. O. Injurious & Beneficial Insects of California; 
Suppl. Monthly Bull. IV, 4. 1915. / 
Introduction 
Since the year 1908, observations on the habits and biology of this 
insect have been made by agents of the Bureau of Entomology, Decid¬ 
uous Fruit Insect Division, under the direction of Dr. A. L. Quain- 
tance. The material in this paper has been arranged from notes made 
by Mr. J. R. Horton, Bureau of Entomology, formerly in the Decid¬ 
uous Fruit Insect Division, by Mr. P. R. Jones, formerly of the Bureau 
of Entomology, Deciduous Fruit Insect Division, and by the writer. 
The greater part of the observations were made at San Jose, Cal., 
during the years 1910-1912, while some points in the life-history were 
subsequently checked up in 1916 at Walnut Creek, California. 
Related Insects 
The California Pistol Case Bearer belongs to a group of moths 
(Elachistidse) of which a number are injurious to deciduous fruit trees. 
Among these are the Cigar Case Bearer (Coleophora fletcherella Fernald) 
the Western Cigar Case Bearer (C. volckei Volck) and the Eastern 
Pistol Case Bearer (C. malivorella Riley). The last named which 
attacks pomaceous fruit trees in the East is very similar to C. sacra¬ 
menta in appearance and habits. According to Lowe 2 there are some 
minor differences; the larvae of C. malivorella pupate on the twigs 
and branches, not on the leaves as in the case of C. sacramenta; the 
egg and pupal instars of malivorella in New York are passed in from 
10 to 14 days, whereas those of C. sacramenta in California require 
a period of some 25 days. 
1 Published with the permission of the Secretary of Agriculture. 
2 Lowe, V. H. Bulletin 122, N. Y. Agr. Exp. Sta., Geneva, N. Y. 
