The Springdale news., 1919-01-03
THE COOLING MOTH IN THE
 OZARkS IN 1918

By 4. J. Alderman and Dwight lse- ly U. s. Department of Agriculture Bureau of Entomology
 In preparing this paper the writers have taken it for granted that these are the questions which you wish to have answered at this time
 Why have there been so many worms in the apples this year Are we. going to have condition like this to fight every year from now or What have you learned about this that can be of use to us?
 It is well to inquire into the factors which have caused the loss during the present season in order that in the fu- ture we may be prepared to meet those factors or avoid them altogeth- CT. It IS therefore the parpose of this paper to answer as far as p0ss- ible the questions indicated above and consider how the eodling moth infast- ation the coming season may be mes.
 Thosa Of you who have visited the laboratory during the growing season are familiar with the methods em- ployed in studying the codling moth but for the sake of clearness to all we shall describe a few essentials Of the work. Records Of the time Of oe- curenee and rate of development of the codling moth upon which the spray schedule is based are secured from the study of the life history of thou sands of individuals. These insects are reared in cages kept in rearing shelter or inseetary. with screen sides so that they are subjected to weather conditions very similar 10 those in an orchard Most of you are familiar with the habit of the apple worms when full grown, of spinning eoeoons under the rough bark of the apple tree where they transform to the winged form or moth Advantage ls taken of this habit and in the fall of the year full grown larvae are eol- lected and induced to spin eocoons in grooves in sticks seven inches long by one inch wide covered with strips of celluloid so that they can be easily observed. In the spring the worms pass thru a transformation stage and then become moths which fly about the orchard depositing eggs from which the worms" of early spring hatch. The bulk of the moths emerge from the eocoons in period of about three and their offsprings are called the first brood worms These worms transform to moths in carly summer and their off spring are known as the second brood h like manner the later broods arise. Bv keeping daily records of the time of emergenee moths, of egg laying ha- bits. of matching of these eggs and the entrance of the apple by the small worms of the dates of their leaving the apple and their subsequent trans formations we are able to know exact ly when the broods appear in the orchard and when the spray apBlica- tions should be made Records must necessarily be kept on thousands of individuals in order that a far aver age may be secured Based on these studies spraying experiments were conducted in orchards in cooperation Bureau of Plant Industry
 Probably the most important single factor in producing the unusually large number of worms" that oc- cured this season was the unusual summer weather. Records from the local weather station, furnished the writers by Captain Parker, show that August of this year was tie hottest on record in this vicinity and that the unusually hot weather of the season as whole came at time when codling moth development could be most affected.
 Most of you know that high tenn peratures favor the development of most insects. The codling moth is no exception in this respect. as illus trations from our records will show As for instance during the eompara- lively cool weather of April and early May between thirty and forty days were required for the eodling moth 10 transform from the full grown worm to the winged insect; during the heat of the summer only nine or ten days were required for passing the same period. Again, eggs deposited in the carly part of May required from eight .e ten days to hatch. while those de- Dosited during the heat of the summer required only four or five days. Since the codling moth is so much favored y high temperature it is obvious that