Within the cocoons, in two or three days they transform to pupae of a
reddish brown color, densely clothed with short pale yellowish hairs.
The moths appear in two or three weeks, soon lay their eggs and then
die. The insects are not abundant many years in succession, as their
enemies, the parasites, increase and check them.
Many methods have been suggested for their destruction, but the most
available and economical are to remove the clusters of eggs whenever
found, and burn them, and to shower the trees with Paris green in the
proportion of one pound to one hundred and fifty gallons of water.
THE STALK BORER.
_Gortyna nitela_ (Gruen.)
The perfect moth, Fig. 19, 1, expands from one to one and a half
inches. The fore wings are a mouse gray color, tinged with lilac and
sprinkled with fine yellow dots, and distinguished mainly by a white
band extending across the outer part. The moths hibernate in the
perfect state, and in April or May deposit their eggs singly on the
outside of the plant upon which the young are to feed. As soon as the
eggs hatch, which is in about a month, the young larvae, or
caterpillars, gnaw their way from the outside into the pith.
[Illustration: FIG. 19.]
The plant does not show any sign of decay until the caterpillar is
fully grown, when it dies. The caterpillar, Fig. 19, 2, is about one
and one-fourth inches long, of a reddish brown color, with whitish
stripes along the body.
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