The Pecan and its Culture — David Hume — John Shaqi
The Pecan and its Culture
David Hume · en
"The Bud Moth, _Proteopteryx deludana_, is a serious pest,
especially in young orchards. Sometimes, in such orchards, even
when large, scarcely a tree can be found during the month of
May that does not contain one or several nests. The
caterpillars are usually found singly, each with one side of a
leaf folded over it and fastened to form a tube, or sometimes
two leaves are fastened together with silken bonds and the
caterpillar feeds between them. As fast as the leaves it has
attached become brown and die, it draws fresh leaves to the
dead ones and fastens them there, thus gradually making a very
conspicuous nest. The caterpillar is full grown during the last
of May and the first of June when they transform into moths.
Their pupæ cases are formed of silk and excrement, smoothly
lined with silk and snugly hidden away in a nest of leaves. In
about two weeks from the time of pupation, the moths appear.
Early specimens have sometimes been hatched from buds, only
partially expanded. They are small, about five-sixteenths of an
inch in length and five-eighths of an inch across the expanded
wings. In general color they are grayish, streaked and dotted
with blackish-brown. A characteristic habit is to alight and
rest on the tree trunk, head downward. The moths have again
been observed in November, suggesting that there are two broods
a year. Thorough, persistent spraying with arsenate of lead or
Paris green, in April and May, ought to control this species."