Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1919-11-18
The cigar.case-Bearer.

The Cigar-Case-Bearer.
Not infrequently the Maine Agricul-
tural Experiment Station receives speci-
mems of the cigar case bearer from cor
respondents. The popular name Of the
moth is not stranger than the habits of
the insect which bears both the "cigar-
case" and the name. It Is of more than
passing interest that the insect owes its
scientific name, Coleophora fetcherella,
to Doctor c. 81. Fsrnald for many years
professor of entomology in the "Maine
State College" long before the Maine
Legislature of 1897 made it the Uuiver-
sity of Maine.
The following account from "Fruit
Insects" by Slingerland and Crosby is
given here for the benefit of owners of
apple trees In Maine. This insect has
been widely distributed and very abun
dant In the state this season.
About 1890 this interesting little case
bearer first appeared in Injurious Dum-
bers In apple, pear and plum orchards in
New York and Canada, where 1t con
tinues to do more or less damage each
YEAR. 1t has been reported from New
Mexico, Montana, Maine and British
Columbia, where 1t was doubtless intro
duced on nursery stock. On account Of
it's small size and peculiar habits, the
insect itself will rarely be seen by the
fruit-grower, but the curious little cigar
shaped suits in which the caterpillars
live in May and June are quite conspicu-
Gus on the foliage. The caterpillar pro-
trudes itself from its case, eats tiny
round hole through the skin of the leaf
and then mines out the interior tissue as
far as IL can reach and still retain its
case. Thus many small, blotch mines
are made which soon turn brown, and
often whole leaves are thus mined out.
About September Is, the insect goes
into Information as q minute, half-grown
caterpillar in tiny curved case attached
to the twigs. About the middle of
April, the caterpillars move and proceed
to eat holes in the opening buds, the ex-
pandiDg leaves, the stems OF the flowers
and fruits and the young fruits. Addi-
lions are built on to the winter case, but
IN about month the dark, orsnge-col-
ored, black headed caterpillar, scarcely
1.5 Of an inch long, deftly makes, by
mining and cutting out a cigsr.shsped
area of the leaf, its larger cigsr-sbaped
the caterpillars cease feeding, securely
fasten the cases to the leaves or branches,
and in about three weeks transform
within through light brown pupe TO the
tiny steel-gfay moths, with q wing ex-
panse of about 3-S of an inch. The
females soon lay minute, yellow, pitted
eggs among the hairs on the young
leaves. Hatching in about two weeks,
the tiny caterpillars work as miners iD
the leaves for two or three weeks, then
construct their curious little curved
cases from bits of the skins of the leaves,
and by the middle of September migrate
to the twigs, where they hibernate.
This cigar. case bearer is capable of
doing much damage to the Young fruit
and the foliage of fruit trees, and as 1t is
protected by a case and mines in the
leaves, 1t requires thorough spraying to
successfully control 1t, Possibly the
strong sprays used against scale insects
in winter might reach the alternating
caterpillsrs in their tiny curved cases on
the twigs. Early in the spring, or soon
after the buds open and the csterpillars
begin work. thorough application Of
kerosene emulsion, diluted with nine
parts of water, has proved effective in
Canada. In the commercial orchards OF
western New York case-besrers are
usually controlled by the use of arsenste
of lead, as recommended for the bud
moth; that is by two applications of
arsenste of lead, 4 pounds in 100 gallons
of water; the first when the flower olus-
ters first appear and the second just be-
fore the blossoms open.
In orchards where the minute cigar
shaped cases have been present on the
leaves during the summer it would be
we'll to examine twigs for the still small
er curved alternating cases and to make
plans for spraying in the spring.-Chas.
D. Woods, Director.