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Sate ate eats faut er ( We BE ate ire Ol Riel pay nok CORA My ha ee ase ‘i 2 is wed 4 eet i yt Nope Fe leat we ee tatneee Mt ve ‘ \ ee 1} Panett Wena Tealce ge i i Ha bit uate ait eal CH cat i sateaeiaer see ates : y ae we Rveret visas iis eS ae args See: i Se le 0) a) Ca) ila zp Wits ie ét ie Hh (ore 4 viet Piet al Paes WA? Uy AE Re UCN) dat} Chgot ai its’ ai ‘a 4. , ft ‘en Lae Neat ‘y H2doF Ai aH bet ig i ARCA Galan i i deed apie sees a i ing. 36 cided atte Cairaal ats a ti ra ajatat Nest) sats ¥ fi 6 as i oi (a tte ee at Hi ae Hon CH as pen Race) t ove ie Be eae GM tee 2 eee Ler hae Raa i Hy (i 6 eb Hae ee aac Bilal Nope an is Hy ee ters ce i ipeeratt ah -Bat afiethat ena W Pie aie Pee bie Coen. Ped As “i Neva Is ieee tatbaicl f Sy Wits AiaG heb ban BM: Suita iy hb melita ie nah, Niort hobs Ws aihe! a Vii sate iE Peace ri Wy ir ieee ite Hore a Ruithcaeatiengi enya onion J icici ( se cain eetradt ths owe is te aan? slats 6 ai e tees si art thins hie: eas io a5 = ee Ses is ete c= 5 i eee eal = is ALDERT RK. MANN LIBRARY AT CORNELL UNIVERSITY =! Phy MG Wy Ne aa) | le x ~1 Cornell University Library Ti ct and oth Cornell University The original of this book is in the Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www. archive.org/details/cu31924018280903 THE INSECT AND OTHER ALLIED PESTS OF ORCHARD, BUSH AND HOTHOUSE FRUITS THE INSECT AND OTHER ALLIED PESTS OF ORCHARD, BUSH AND HOTHOUSE FRUITS AND THEIR PREVENTION AND TREATMENT BY PRED, V. THEOBALD, MLA. Ere. WITH ORIGINAL ILLUSTRATIONS PUBLISHED BY THE AUTHOR WYE COURT, WYE 1909 LONDON: PRINTED BY WILLIAM CLOWES AND SONS, LIMITED, DUKE STREET, STAMFORD STREET, S.E., AND GREAT WINDMILL STREET, W. PREFACE. Tus book is written solely with the object of placing before fruit- growers, gardeners and amateurs an account of the insects, mites and worms which attack and cause disease amongst fruit trees, bushes, etc., both in the open and under glass. Some mention is made of methods of prevention, even if they give only partial relief, and also of the various forms of treatment that have been adopted to destroy the insect and other enemies, The volume is by no means complete, but it has reached such proportions that it is impossible to give all the information it was hoped to. Nevertheless, all the known pests to date and all those insect and allied creatures which have been recorded as having done damage are mentioned. My thanks must be expressed to Mr. Robert Newstead, Mr. C. O. Waterhouse and Mr. W. F. Emptage for much valuable help during the writing of the work, also to so many fruit-growers that it would be invidious to mention names. The photographs have mainly been taken for me by Mr. Edenden, and a few have been prepared by Mr. Blakey, Mr. Hammond, Mr. Tonge and Mr. Rintoul. Professor Felt of New York, Mr. Claude Fuller of Natal and Mr. Newstead have also kindly sent me photo- graphs of Scale Insects and Fruit Fly damage. A few figures have also been reproduced from my Reports issued from the S. E. Agricultural College. The drawings have mostly been prepared by Mr. Horace Knight. FRED. V. THEOBALD. Wye, December 1908. CONTENTS. PREFACE List oF ILLUSTRATIONS INTRODUCTION ‘ . A Snort Summary oF THE CHARACTERS OF INSECTS AND THE ALLIED Pests TREATED IN THIS VOLUME Insects, Erc., Insurrous to THE APPLE . , i ‘3 APRICOT if CHERRY to CURRANTS TO THE DaMmson Fie GoosEBERRY LoGANBERRY . Nors Preacu PEAR PLum PINEAPPLE QUINCE . RasPBERRY SrRAWBERRY VINE PAGE yr ix-xvi 1-5 6-9 11-177 179-182 183-200 201-244 245-254 255-259 261-283 287 289-318 319-326 327-357 359-403 405-408 409-411 413-441 443-476 478-489 viii Contents. APPENDICES. APPENDIX A. Somn Insrcts Waicn Micut Become Pests 1n Tus Country Owi1ne To IMPORTATION APPENDIX B. BENEFICIAL INSECTS APPENDIX C. WasHES AND Fumiacants Usep as INSECTICIDES AND ACARI- CIDES APPENDIX D, List or SUBSCRIBERS APPENDIX E. List or Firms Wuicw Supply CHEMICALS, SPRAYING- Macuinrs, Erc. INDEX PAGE 493-504 505-507 507-524 525-532 531-532 533-549 FIG. . The Eyed Hawk Moth (Smerinthus ocellatus). re larva and LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. pupa . The Apple Cianteiae Moth it aerea my ee mis. “Bowe} . Cocoons and pups of the eur er Nea ta ees mis, Bork.) . Eggs of Lappet Moth (x 20). . Young larval Lappet ready for wintering - é : : . The Lappet Moth (Lastocampa quercifolia. Linn.). Male and female and mature larva . . Winter tent of Brown Tail Moth and Soins loxvie eutvide . Another non-hanging winter tent and egg-mass (half natural size) . Male and female Brown Tail Moths : . Part of egg-mass and larva of Brown Tail Moth . Top of a “tent” with nearly mature larve . Gold Tail Moth at rest. F . ; , ‘ . The Gold Tail Moth (Porthesia nl. Male and female; summer cocoon; small winter cocoon and larva . Young Gold Tail larve on plum leaf . Pear fruitlet eaten by Gold Tail larva . Nests of Lackey Moth (one-fifth natural size) . . Egg bands of Lackey Moth (twice natural size) . Female and male Lackey Moths . : . Caterpillar of Lackey Moth (not quite full sroan . Cocoons of Lackey Moths and just hatched adults . December Moth (Pectlocampa popult) . . Figure-of-8 Moths. Male andfemale . . Eggs of Figure-of-8 Moth (Diloba cer ee (greatly enlarge) . Figure-of-8 Moth at rest . Larve of the Figure-of-8 Moth. Tvamnatare aoe on foliage . The Vapourer Moth (Orygia antiqua. Linn.) a, female; B, male; c, empty pupa skin; D, cocoon; 8, larval skin . Ova of Vapourer Moth (natural size) . Eggs of Vapourer Moth (x 10) . Caterpillar of Vapourer Moth . Grey Trident Moth (Acronycta pst) PAGE 16 17 18 19 20 21 22, 23 28 24 25 27 28 28 29 30 31 32 32 33 34 36 36 37 37 39 39 40 40 42, List of Illustrations. . The Goat Moth (Cossus ligniperda) and larva; also moth escaping from pupa ig x * Face p- 42, . Female and male Goat Moth hcossii dt gritisonstis ; . Wood Leopard Moth and tunnelled wood (one-third natural size) . Male and female Wood Leopard Moth (Zeuzera pyrina) . . Larva of Wood Leopard Moth in apple branch . External signs of Wood Leopard Moth attack . Females and males of the Winter Moth (Cheimatobia biaateatay . Two ova of the Winter Moth (greatly enlarged) . Apple fruitlet eaten by Winter Moth . Cherries eaten by Winter Moth larve . Looper caterpillar of Winter Moth : . Apple leaf eaten by two young Winter Moth ines teen on leaf) . Pupe and cocoons of the Winter Moth . : ‘ . Apple trees defoliated by Winter Moth larve . . A grease-banded apple tree ‘ . Steam spraying apparatus (Meareperenthier’ s) foe laree arohavd-a use . Males and female of the Mottled Umber Moth . Ova of Mottled Umber Moth (x 20) : . Melanic male and female Mottled Umber Moth . Larve of Mottled Umber Moth . Male and female March Moth : : ‘ : 5 . Female March Moth (Anisopteryx pabiiaria: Schiff.) (greatly enlarged to show side view of tail tuft) . Caterpillar of the March Moth ‘ . Egg band of the March Moth (twice natural gieay . Egg band of March Moth (x 10) : . Female and male Pepper and Salt Moth annie hatin ia . Larva of Pepper and Salt Moth. Green variety on rose . , . Larva of Pepper and Salt Moth. Brown variety on fruit trees. . Larva of Teniocampa incerta on apple leaf . The Clouded Drab Moth (Tentocampa incerta) . Puva of Teniocampa incerta . Apple and leaf eaten by caterpillar of the Drab Moth (Teniorampa incerta) . . Green Pug Moth (Citoradiiits Feo) . Some old figures of the Codling Moth . Codling Moths, pupa and cocoon under bark . . Greatly enlarged ovum of the Codling Moth . A Codling maggot in apple . Apples attacked by Codling maggot . Apples attacked by Scab Fungus . . The hay-rope band in operation ; ‘ ‘ . . Tortrix Moths. Tortrix (Lozotewnia) pibenee Tortrir (Lozo- tenia) heparana ; Tortrix (Lozotenia) rosana . Sideria achatana. Pyrodes rheediella . . Tortrix larvee with damaged fruitlet and foliage . Tortrix Moths. a, Spilonota roborana; B, Portrir podana . An “ Antithesia ” at rest . Winter case of Bud Moth Caterpillar PAGE 44 47 48 48 48 51 51 52 52 53 53 54 54 ‘56 57 59 59 60 60 61 62 62 63 63 64 65 65 66 67 67 67 69 70 71 val 72 72 73 75 78 79 80 81 82 84 FIG. 77. 78. 79. 80. 81. 82. 83. 84, 85. 86. 87. 88. 89. 90. 91. 92. 93. 94, 95. 96. 97. 98. 99. 100. 101. 102. 103. 104. 105. 106. 107. 108. 109. 110. 111. 112. 113. 114, 115. List of Illustrations. Tent of ‘Cherry and pie Little Ermine Moth fee eee evonymella) Little Apple pinnine (A. eatinalla. A, cocoons in leaf neat; B, adult . Ova of Hyponomeuta matinella (odtaieal size and enlarel) Nest of Apple Little Ermine (Hyponomeuta ee (half national size) of Pith Moth and dainnged apne Apple shoot attacked by Pith Moth Pith Moth (Blastodacna hellerella) Winter stage of Pith Moth, showing blisters andl holes : The Apple Leaf Miner (Lyonetia clerckella). Cocoon and larval mine é . Apple Leaf Miner Uavndtin dercketiay Nepticula malella ‘ : . : Apple Leaf Miner (Nenfiauta ince, Larva, cocoon and mined leat : Ornix petiolella . Apple Blossom Weevil (An honamm en Apple Blossom Weevil (natural size and magnified) eed - capped” 5 blossom, showing exit hole Bark Beetle (Scolytus rugulosus) . : : ‘ : Piece of plum stem showing “ flight holes? ‘of Bark Beetle (S. rugulosus) . , Work of the Bark Beetle (Seoiyaus pupiilowis) and beetles (natal size) : Apple shoot cut io Twig Cutter (Rhynchites sewalend. The Apple Twig Cutter (Rhynchites ceruleus) (x 8). Leaf Weevils (Phyllobius). 1, Phyllobiws maculicornis ; 2, P. ob- longus ; 3, P. uniformis (x 8). . Apples eaten out by Apple Sawfly ‘ Apple showing scar formed by Apple Sawfly on young fruit iiich the maggot failed to enter Saw of a female Sawfly (greatly enlarged) The Apple Sawfly (natural size and enlarged) Larva of the Apple Emphytus (Emphylus sp. ?); ¢. larva in situ ; b, entrance of tunnel; a, excrement. A : Apple shoot destroyed by Aphis pomi . Damage to apple shoots by Aphis Ova of Apple Aphis (Aphis pom) Apple Aphides : ; : : : Aphis sorbi. Oviparous female. Young stage Young Aphides just hatched feeding on apple bud. “Stem Mother” of Aphis sorbi. Kalt. (greatly enlarged) Aphis sorbi. Larva from viviparous female . Aphis fitchit. Nymph, showing extruding young igteatly eulemed Aphis fitchii (viviparous female), showing larval Ichneumon within Ovum of Aphis fitchii laid in branch crevice one enlarged) Aphis fitchit on apple sboot : A parasite of the Apple Aphis xl PAGH 87 88 89 90 93 94 94 95 97 98 101 102 103 105 107 111 112 113 117 118 119 123 124 125 125 127 131 132 133 134 134 135 136 137 138 188 ‘138 139 140 Xli Fig. 116. 117. 118. 119. 120. 121. 122. 123. 124. 125. 126. 127. 128. 129. 130. 131. 182. 133. 134. 135. 136. 137. 138. 139. 140. 141. 142. 148. 144. 145. 146. 147. 148. 149. 150, 151, 152. 153. 154. 155. 156. 157. 158. List of Illustrations. A bad and old-standing attack of Woolly Aphis . Woolly Aphis on the suckers and shoots of an old eiple ‘irae. Woolly Aphis and galled area produced by it : : Early stage of attack of Woolly Aphis on young wood . Young wood attacked by Woolly Aphis Piece of wild crab apple attacked by Woolly Aphis Root form of Woolly Aphis. j Ovum of Woolly Aphis and shrivelled shin of Jaa Young Woolly Aphis hatched from egg Galls caused on roots by Woolly Aphis . Injecting bisulphide of carbon by means of the Weruiorel injestor ¢ Damage to foliage by Apple Sucker and normal leaves . Adult Apple Sucker (x 14). js Larva and nymph of Apple Sucker Nymph skins of Apple Sucker (x 2) ; Old egg of Apple Sucker, showing rupture and sraeesd : i Ova of Apple Sucker, showing where deposited (slightly magnified Young larve of Apple Sucker waiting to enter buds Orchard sprayed with lime and salt wash Seneca nozzles used for lime and salt wash . Apple tree coated with lime and salt to prevent pple Sucker Ova of a Psocid sp.? . _ The Mussel Scale on apple twig napa esnies ais : The Mussel Scale (Lepidosaphes ulmt). 1, female scale (dorsal view); 2, ventral view with ova; 8, mature female beneath scale ; 4, larva; 5, male; 6, male scale. (After ees 2 Propupal stage of a male Scale Insect . Mussel Scale ; normal bark glands; cankered scars Spraying machine (Four Oaks Patent). Brown Soft Scale (Lecanium caprece) . * The Large Tortoiseshell Butterfly esa polychtor e and chrysalis. ze Caterpillar of Large Mortoiseshell Butterfl vs Plum and Cherry Tree Stem Borer (Semasia woeberiana) Piece of cherry bark (inner side) showing workings of the Sisseeia larve - Semasia iasbeniana : 5 Pupa of Plum and Cherry Tree Bites (Semasia w eeberiana pie. jecting from bark The Cherry Fruit Moth (Argyreathia uated, Fabr. i ; Larval case on leaf and detached, also Moth of the Pistol Case- Bearer An Apple Case- Beaver (ileauhare sp. ) and Moth. Cherry Black Aphis (Myzus cerast) on cherry shoot Nymph of the Cherry Aphis (Myzus cerast) ais eee Adult Frog-hoppers (Philenus spumarius) . Currant Clearwing Moth Larva of the Current Clearwing in re Larve (just ready to pupate) and pupa of Magpie Moth 1584. Immature caterpillars of the Magpie Moth. PAGE 142 148 144 145 146 147 148 148 149 149 152 154 155 156 156 157 158 159 161 162 168 164 166 167 168 169 1738 176 186 187 189 189 190 191 192 195 196 197 198 200 204 205 206 207 List of Tllustrations. . The Magpie Moth (Abraxas grossulariata) . . Eggs of the Magpie Moth (Abra.ras grossulaviata) (x 10) . Ichneumon cocoons from caterpillar of Magpie Moth . A Black Currant Fruit Moth and attacked currant . The Raspberry Shoot Moth (Incurvaria capitella) . Phyllobius calcaratus . : . Currant leaf with blisters sheltering Aphis (R. abet . . Red currant shoot with dense cluster of curled leaves due to Aphis attack . An Aphis showing two voung within (erdatly Gaeesay. . Cast skin or exuvium of an Aphis (greatly enlarged) ‘ . A knapsack sprayer ana Oaks Patent) useful in spraying pak fruit, etc. . Currant Root Louse on Uiliale caren : . The White Woolly Currant Scale (Pulvinaria ibis var. nie . The Brown Currant Scale (Lecaniwm persice v. sarothamnt) (slightly enlarged) . Young winter form of Brown Caent Saale, Lower one alive, upper killed by paraffin emulsion 174. A fumigating box for bush fruit . 177. 178. 179. 180. 181. 5. Black currant shoots, right attacked by bud mites, left normal . Section of “big bud,” showing countless mites as a small white dust (enlarged) ; Section of “big bud” showing dence mass ef matted laveaity enlarged) . The Currant Bud Mite sea ovum eeny aula ged) : : The Currant Bud Mite (Hriophyes ribis) and ova. (From Lewis) . Abnormal attack of ‘ big bud” on red currants Head of viviparous female of the Hop-Damson Asshiie (Phe dion humutlz) (greatly enlarged) 181a. Ova of the Hop-Damson Aphis (Phor sion sentially 182. 1838. 184, 185. 186. 187. Wingless females of the Hop-Damson Aphis Oviparous female of the Hop-Damson Aphis from damson greatly enlarged . . Camellia Scale (Aspidiotus samme. Female Scale and Scales on young figs. : Moth and caterpillar of the Dot Moth (Mameatr a ‘ti sicar es Red currant bush defoliated by Sawfly larvee (Nematus ribesit) Ova of Gooseberry Sawfly (x 2) . 1874. The Gooseberry ae ae choot ania tannins larvie on leaves 1878. Mature larve (x 2): 188. 189. 190. 191. 192. 193. 194, 195. Cocoon of Gooseberry Sawfly . 3 Male and female Gooseberry Sawflies (nabiial size and mubeody. Normal gooseberry shoot and shoot attacked by Red Spider . The Ivy Red Spider (Bryobia pretiosa) (greatly enlarged) Gooseberry Red Spider and ova (greatly enlarged). Empty egg-shell of Red Spider (greatly enlarged) . A, Gooseberry blossoms eaten by Slugs; B, normal blossoms . Male and female Buff-'Tip Moths. Xiil PAGE 208 209 210 212 214 215 216 217 218 219 220 222 224 227 228 229 231 233 233 234 236 240 248 249 250 251 258 264 266 267 268 269 270 271 278 280 281 281 282 293 xy List of Illustrations. FIG, PAGE 196. Eggs of Buff-Tip Moth (x 20) . : : : 293 197. Immature larve of Buff-Tip on hazel . : . : . 294 198. Buff-Tip Moths at rest and ova . ‘ : : 295 199. Larva of Buff-Tip Moth . F : 295 200. Pupe of Buff-Tip Moth - : 296 201. Nut leaves mined by the Nut- Tieat Blister Moth oe : 297 202. Nut-Leaf Blister Moth (Lithocolletis corylt) . : 298 203. The Nut Weevil (Balaninus nucus) and damaged nuts . 800 204. Nut-Leaf Weevil (Strophosomus corylt) (x 4) ; é : . 802 2044. The Nut Sawfly (Cresus septentrionalis, Linn). a, adult; B, larva . . : F - : . 804 205. Male catkin of ai inaked, by Cecid lends ; : . é . 806 206. Currant Gall Mite. . 807 207. The Nut Bud Mite Prbahyes wualane $ eceuity enlarged) . 808 208. The Nut Bud Mite ? (greatly enlarged) . : z . 808 209. Chestnut and Acorn Moth (Carpocapsa eee : . 3810 210. Sweet chestnuts attacked by maggots of Carpocapsa gnloniidant . 810 211. Leaf Box Beetle (Attelabius cuculionides) and leaf nest ‘ 312 212. The Dusky Veined Walnut Louse. aa on leaf and sue hatched adult (enlarged) . F , - 3813 213. Brown Soft Scale (Lecanium Herneeyve on rose and ‘pene ‘ . 822 214. Lecaniwm persice (greatly enlarged female) . : : ; . 822 215. The Brown Soft Scale (Lecaniwm persice) on plum - ‘ . 823 216. A Woodlouse . : . 826 217. Apple leaf blistered is the inves at Contesting gevielle é . 831 218. Larva of Cemiostoma scitella (greatly enlarged) . . : . 832 219. Pear Leaf Blister Moth (Cemiostoma scttella) 5 R 383 220, Pear and Cherry Slugworm (Hriocampa limacina) and adult Sawities and damaged leaf. ' : 5 ' : : : . 8384 221. Slugworms . : F ; ‘ : . 336 222. Slugworms on cherry leat . : . ‘ . 8387 223. Tent of Social Pear Sawfly (one-third nai ize) 2 . 839 224. Social Pear Sawfly (Pamphilus flaviventris). : . 840 225. Larve of Social Pear Sawfly F ; ; ; 341 226. Pear Fruitlets attacked by Pear Aedes, $ ‘ . 844 227. The Pear Midge (Diplosis pyrivora. (After Riley’ ) : . 3845 228. Enlarged fruitlets attacked by Midge (one-half natural eines . 846 229. Larvee of Pear Midge (natural size) . . é 346 230. Pear leaves rolled by Midge larve Ceetteinapt uri) : 3 350 231. Black Midge (mistaken for Pear Midge) : ; . 3851 232. Pear leaf attacked by Mite (Hriophyes pyri). : ‘ . 853 233. Pear fruitlets attacked by the Mite (Evriophyes pyr ie . 854 234, Hriophyes pyrt?. (After Nalepa) ? : ‘ 355 235. The Early Moth (Hybernia rupicapraria) . ‘ 362 236. Plum opened to show working of Plum Maggot . 2 363 237. Plum Fruit Moth (Opadia funebrana) . é . 368 238. Plum attacked by the Red Maggot of Opadia Pinsebe ana 364 239. Larva of the Plum Fruit Moth (Opadia funebrana) . 865 240. Penthina prumana . f 3866 241, Shot Hole Borer (Xyleborns dienats showitus isne. galler yen ty . 867 FIG, | 242. 2438. 244, 245. 246. 247, 248, 249, 250. 251, 252. 258. 254, 255. 256. 257. 258. 259. 260. 261. 262. 263. 264, 265. 266. 267. 268, 269. 270. 271. 272. 278. 274. 275. 276. 277. 278. 279. 280. 281. 282. 283. 284. 285.. 286. 287. List of Illustrations. Shot Hole Borer (Xyleborus dispar) showing three galleries . Flight hole of Shot Borer Beetle (Nyicborus dispar) Shot Borer Beetle (Xyleborus dispar) Plum leaf damaged by larve of the Plum Leaf Sawfly Plum leaf eaten by Plum Leaf Sawfly es ee) and iaey vee Plum Leaf Sawfly (Cladins padi) Larvee of Cladius padi at work Plum fruitlets damaged by Sawfly Cfonlacanipa Suir jas eat cocoon from soil The Plum Fruit Sawfly (Hoplocampa ridin nia. Plum leaves curled by Aphis prunt Young Aphis pruni and young Aphis pr scaerolia leaky enl age Later stage of A. pruni (viviparous female) (greatly enlarged) Aphis pruni. Second generation (viviparous female) ; Mother-queen of Plum Aphis in axil of bud (much rer The Mealy Plum Aphis (Hyalopterus prunt) Mealy Plum Aphis (Hyalopterus prunt) The Oyster-shell Bark Louse (Aspidiotus Bante rere Damson spray, showing damage by Leaf Hoppers. Nut leaf damaged by Leaf Hoppers Oak Leaf Hopper (Typhlocyba quercus) a Yellow Leaf Hopper (Chiorita flavescens) (greatly enlarged) Leaf Hoppers (Chlorite) on apple leat . Yellow Leaf Hopper attacked by a Proctotrupid Red Spider (Tetranychus telarius) Red Spider Egg (7. telarius) Plum leaves attacked by Gall Mites Plum trees disbudded by Bullfinches Beetle Mites or Oribatide . Larval Beetle Mites (Oribatidee) . ; Beetle Mite Eggs (Oribatide) (enlarged) Beetle Mite Eggs (Oribatide) aa enlarged) Pineapple Scales F Raspberry Shoot Moths faananal iae.. Normal and damaged shoots of raspberry. Working of the Raspberry Beetle (Bytwrus somentanaay: The Raspberry Beetle (Byturus tomentosus) . Raspberry Beetle (natural size) The Raspberry Beetle (Bytwrus Jowaiitosiid) Lava (greatly enlan eed) and entering receptacle and damaged fruit . : Fruit Tree Otiorhynchi. 1, Otiorhynchus tenebricosus ; 2, 0. ne catus ; 8, O. picipes The Rose Chafer (Cetonia aipdias 3 Large Chafer (Melolontha vulgaris) ; Simmen Chater eehizot ons solstitialis); Garden Chafer (Phyllopertha ini: F Larva of Cock Chafer (immature) The Raspberry Aphis (Hmphytus cinctus) Raspberry snags with Emphytus cinctus chambers Larva of Hmphytus cinctus Galls of Lasioptera rubt XV PAGE 368 369 369 373 374 875 375 B77 378 380 381 381 382 382 384 385 387 389 390 391 393 394 395 398 398 399 400 401 402 403 403 408 416 417 421 422 422 423 426 430 432 433 435 436 437 439 Xvi List of Illustrations. FIG. PAGE 288. Garden Swift Moth . 2 446 289. Piece of strawberry stock eaten into by Garden Swift Moth cater- pillar. : : ‘ 3 : : . 446 290. Larvee of Garden Switt Moth 447 291. Pupa of Garden Swift Moth 448 292. Earthen cocoon and empty pupa skin of Garden Swift Moth 448 293, Larva of Garden Swift Moth attacked by a fungus, eee entomorrhiza . - 449 294. Larva of Heart and Dart Moth (Age tits re z . 450 295. Heart and Dart Moth, showing variation ‘ . . 451 296. Eggs of Heart and Dart Moth (x 20) . ‘ : - 452 297. Yellow Underwing Moths, showing variation in palate i . 462 298. Eggs of Yellow Underwing (x 20) 5 ‘ 453 299. The Strawberry Leaf Button Moth (Peronea eormamianes) a . 454 300. Strawberry Ground Beetles. 1, Pterostichus vulgaris ; 2, Harpalus ruficornis ; 3, Calathus cisteloides . . ; : . . 456 301. A Carabid larva. . ; ; » 457 302. Strawberry Leaf Beetle (Galerucella tenella) ‘ : . 459 303, Black Anthonomus (Anthonomus rubt) (x 8) , ‘ 461 304, Small Strawberry Weevil (Exomias araneifornvis) 463 305. Strawberry eaten by Small Weevil ‘ ‘ 3 . . 468 306. Rhynchites minutus . : ; ; : 464 307. Adrastus limbatus : : : : : - 465 308. A Wireworm. 465 309. Strawberry plant attacked by Eelworm (Aphelenchus fr sue (one-third natural size) . 473 310. The Root Eelworm (Lylenchus dewsubabiic), . » 45 311. White or Woolly Vine Scale (Pulvinaria vitis) . : . 482 312. Pulvinaria vitis? (greatly enlarged) . j : ‘ : 482 313. Female Mealy Bug (x 8) . A : ; : : 483 314. Young Mealy Bugs just hatched (x 3). ; : . 484 314a, Mealy Bug (Dactylopius longispinus) (x 8) . : : . 485 315. Male Mealy Bugs (x 8) 486 316. Ova of Red Spider and srecnspirenih wotay Feet hatching (realy enlarged) : 489 317. Mediterranean Fruit Fly en atts eapstata) : ‘ 493 318. Apples attacked by Fruit Flies (Ceratitis) : ‘ ; . 494 319. Wing of Cherry Fruit Fly (x 9) . : : ‘ 5 . 495 320. Japanese Fruit Scale (Diaspis pentagona) . 3 496 321. Japanese Fruit Scale (Diaspis pentagona) on aiulbenyy 3 . 497 322, Diaspis pentagona ¢ (greatly enlarged) ‘ ‘ ‘ 497 323. Diaspis pentagona 2 (greatly enlarged) i . ; 498 324. San José Scale (Aspidiotus perniciosus) on au (x 8). . 499 325. San José Seale (x 5) . . 501 326. Aphis destroyers. 1, Syrphus wibeeiis 2, Guinboube pyrastri ; 3, Syrphus palbewiins 4, Pupa of a Lats bird Beetle; 5, Coccinlie T-punctata ; 7, Chrysopa perla,. : ‘ . 505 827. Eggs of Lace Wing Fly (Chrysopa) (lightly enlar eed) ‘ . 506 328. Pup of Ladybird Beetles on hop leaf . : 2 . 506 THH INSECT AND OTHER ALLIED PESTS OF ORCHARD, BUSH AND HOTHOUSE FRUITS. INTRODUCTION. SINCE Miss Ormerod wrote her valuable little handbook on ‘ Orchard and Bush Fruit Insects’ in 1898, fruit-growing in this country has much increased and with it our knowledge concerning its enemies. Then and previous to it we had to rely mainly for information about insect pest treatment from our Colonial kinsmen and the Americans. With the development of rational fruit-growing and its general stimulation has grown up from the times of Curtis and Westwood a desire to know more and more of the pests which harass the grower. The life-history of an insect, mite or worm seems a trivial matter, but it takes much labour to unravel. Yet it is upon the knowledge of such matters that we must rely if we wish to fight this wonderful Nature which seems to us to do such incalculable mischief. The complete understanding of the vagaries of this or that insect pest may expose some vulnerable point where we can attack it with some possible hope of success. Unfortunately we can lay no claim to complete, or anything like complete knowledge even of the best known of fruit pests. If any- one studies these beautiful, interesting, yet apparently unfriendly creatures, one can at once see what little we know about them. Any one of the best known may form a lifelong study, and even then we are far from the end. It is in this respect, this lifelong study of an insect pest, this specialism, that is followed so closely, so carefully by the school of economic biologists in our Colonies and America. Working assiduously, backed up officially, helped in all ways monetarily, they continue to make rapid and sound progress. In this country the so-called “science” of fruit-growing has taken enormous strides within the last fifteen years. The insect pests have grown with it one may say. To cope with them, methods for their B 9 Introduction. destruction have run as fast. To make up for so much lost time we have been taking impossible jumps, and it seems our fruit-growers who should benefit are those who suffer for the fall. The fruit- grower must place reliance in anything that scientific knowledge can give him, but he must not expect science to perform prodigies. At present it is only a little that the entomologist or chemist can do that can actually benefit the fruit-grower. They must go on building up knowledge, and here and there, as in medicine, it will lead to some definite success, some treatment that will cope with some particular disease. After all the centuries of medical investigation, of medical treat- ment, of medical records, would any sane man be duped by a “quack” selling a pill or a bottle of mixture that is so complete it would cure all man’s ills? Yet we seem to call to mind many who imagined a few years’ work on totally unknown subjects had accom- plished such an extraordinary thing in connection with plant diseases. The diseases of fruit trees, like those of man, must be treated according to their various ways, with the same wide variants; and for them we may say there are many palliatives, but few actual remedies. We have yet so much to learn, first of the diseases, then of how to treat them. Methods of how to prevent and how to treat the diseases of fruit, caused by insect pests, are given in this volume. Many must be taken as mere suggestions, successful in one place but perhaps useless in another or under different circumstances. Can such treat- meut be called a“cure”? Time, material, environment, health of the treated trees have all to be taken into account. A certain dose of one particular drug for a certain man is good, it may be too much, or too little, or actually harmful to another. Is not this likely to be the same in the treatment of our fruit trees ? How can we best help the fruit-grower by “science,” since he cannot, at this present decade, have a “consultant ” always at hand. The only way is to enable him to tell what disease his trees or bushes are suffering from, and so to learn all he can about such a disease. Given this knowledge he can himself apply what known remedies we have, how and when the local circumstances seem best. It is with the object of placing before growers a condensed account of the numerous insects, mites, etc., that live upon and, we may say, cause disease to his trees and bushes that this book has been written. It could never have been done had it not been for those very men whom the writer hopes. to give some little help to, for the idea of how to see and how to follow these strange, yet beautiful insects, in Introduction. 3 the field was first and is still too often stimulated and helped by them. Full use has been made of the many valuable notes not only of how we may check these enemies, but of their various ways, sent by many correspondents. The writer knows of several growers who could better have written this thesis, and probably many others have gone before who could have done the same. The subject of spraying has not been dealt with at any length in this volume, but where it is of some, or even possible benefit it has been referred to and a general summary of the various washes in use is given in an appendix.* The author cannot help suggesting this advice—look upen the washing of fruit trees as only a small adjunct in fruit-growing. First, because we know as yet very little of any definite use ; secondly, because great sums of money are too frequently wasted on washing healthy trees; thirdly, because so many of the washes used are harmful to the trees. What is the object of dosing a man with this or that drug as a remedy if he is well, unless it is to prove a ‘certain cure” to advertise some quack preparation. If one looks over any number of unhealthy fruit trees one can see at once very many unhealthy signs, many forms of actual disease, many sequel of diseases. How many of these are due to insect and fungoid enemies? There are probably just as many pathological diseases, stages and degrees of unhealthiness in plants as in man, and yet all we think of, all we try to cure with wonderful washes are the purely parasitical diseases. Parasitology is most interesting, of enormous importance in human and animal as well as in plant disease, but we must not lose sight of the fact that it is only one factor in disease when we deal with fruit trees, as the doctor does with man and as the veterinary surgeon with animals. With man and animals two things we notice in conection with parasites: first, dirty, unsanitary and unhealthy conditions encourage the unbidden guests; secondly, a weakened or diseased condition of the host predisposes it to these baneful enemies. So it is with our fruit trees; every grower knows that certain trees or varieties will not grow on certain lands, they become unhealthy and then they become cankered; he knows under certain other conditions they fail and become diseased. An old, neglected, dirty orchard may often swarm with insect, mite, bacterial and fungoid pests. So do clean orchards when the * For fuller information on various insecticides the reader is referred to ‘Fruit Trees and their Enemies, with a Spraying Calendar,’ by Spencer U. Pickering, M.A., F.R.S., and Fred. V. Theobald, M.A. (1908). Price 1s. 6d. B2 4 Introduction. trees are unhealthy. Fruit trees are grown under most unnatural conditions, they are being forced to do unnatural things, they must become weakened. The result is they fall an easy prey to disease, whether it be pathological or parasitical. Is not the main thing to aim at to see to the general health of the trees, to their careful manuring and tending and cleanliness? Is this always done? Do not we let things struggle on until the plantation fails under its forced, unnatural living and so falls an easy prey to the parasitical enemies? All these are points for growers to consider. Certainly “science” ignores these factors in plant sanitation and seems to rush to insect and fungus, to bacteria and enzyme, and recommends washes or spray fluids, often as harmful as the pest one tries to destroy. A great deal has been made of the benefit of treating apple and plum trees with lime and salt. Certainly great results have been obtained where the treatment has been properly carried out, as a means of checking the “apple sucker” and plum aphis. Is this result due to any very definite action on the parasitical disease, or is it due to the production of a certain general healthiness in the trees and a concomitant resisting power to disease ? A healthy person resists disease better than one in a cachectic condition, and so it is with man’s overcrowded, lacerated fruit trees. First we must see to the general healthiness of our plantations, cultivation, manuring, judicious pruning and cleanliness. The pre- vention of insect and fungoid diseases embraces the latter. Two points only need be mentioned in that item of the fruit-grower’s work, namely, the destruction by fire of all that we can that is diseased, of old and diseased trees, all winter and summer prunings, all diseased and unhealthy fruit; and, secondly, to see that all foul growth is kept from the trees by an occasional winter spraying. One point the author must mention, in conclusion, namely, that of “natural enemies.” The idea of “ setting a thief to catch a thief” is one that we can scarcely look up to with great pride, but if one can only set that little murderous insect that destroys another with redoubled energy to work for man’s benefit, of course it is a great achievement. There are two cases where this has been done with success, and the result has been that a school of thought has been formulated which claims that we have only to find the natural enemy of this or that parasite (even if we search the world), breed it, turn it loose and then, “hey presto!” the enemy has gone. Fortunately, this idea has not been received with favour in Britain, nor is it likely to be. We do not hope to live up to the ideal of seeing the fruit- grower (who can scarcely make his way against foreign competition Introduction. 5 as it is) with hot-air chambers breeding races of ladybirds and chaleid flies ready to turn out when a particular insect appears in his plantation or fungus-loving cecids to destroy his mildew enemies. We sincerely hope and trust that those British fruit-growers, who yet grow the best fruit of certain kinds in the world, will leave these matters to that “school” elsewhere and follow the advice given by some of our chief colonial economic entomologists, and leave these insect parasites and feeders for Nature to do what she can with, of her own accord and where Nature rules, not man, and where the balance of life is natural and not completely upset, as it is in our fruit plantations. The insect and fungoid diseases of fruit in Great Britain or else- where are at present known very little about, certainly of very few pests can we say we know enough of sufficient value to enable us to cope with them. The object of this book, as previously stated, is to place before erowers a résumé of some of the little we know. Unless they, for years to come, note and record what they see in their work—field facts—and unless we have much more pure naturalist work done we shall make but little progress. We must struggle on to collect the tangled skeins of the greater and then the minuter insect life before we can arrive at anything definite concerning the treatment of the majority of the pests or their prevention. The frwit-grower must help, both by recording his observations and his kindly criticism of what the economic biologist tries to do. A SHORT SUMMARY OF THE CHARACTERS OF INSECTS AND THE ALLIED PESTS TREATED IN THIS VOLUME. Tue Animal Kingdom is well known to be divided into two groups, the so-called Vertebrata and the Invertebrata. To be more accurate, into what are known as Chordate and Achordate animals.* The present volume deals only with the latter. It is hoped at a not far distant date to follow with a second volume of much smaller dimensions dealing with Vertebrate enemies, Animals and Birds. The groups of invertebrata of economic importance to the fruit- grower are the Jointed-Limbed Animals or Arthropoda, the Snails and Slugs or Mollusca, and the Worms or Vermes. The majority of the injurious creatures come in the first group; the damage done by Slugs and Snails is very limited, and that done by Worms is almost exclusively confined to one family—the Eelworms which attack the strawberry. A. The Arruropopa or Jointed-Limbed Animals can at once be told by the following characters :— (1) The body is divided into a number of rings or segments running in the longitudinal axis. (2) The appendages are composed of a number of joints, both those which are ambulatory and those which are sensory. (+) They develop by means of a more or less complicated series of stages, known as the metamorphosis. B. The Vermes or Worms can at once be told from the former by the complete absence of jointed appendages in the form of limbs * Those who wish to follow this subject of structure and classification more closely are referred to any modern text-book on zoology or my ‘ Text- book of Agricultural Zoology,’ published by Blackwood & Sons. 8s. 6d. Summary of the Characters of Insects, etc. a and by the absence of that hard external skeleton seen in Arthropods and composed of chitin. C, The Mottusca or Slugs and Snails have normally a covering or shell composed of calcareous salts, and they have never jointed limbs or processes. The “Shell” may, however, as in Slugs, be rudimentary and internal. A. The ARTHROPODA are divided primarily into the following classes :— CrusTacEA (Crabs, Lobsters, Woodlice, etc.), mainly aquatic animals, but Woodlice are terrestrial. The head bears two pairs of jointed feelers or antennee, and there are organs of locomotion on most of the segments of the body. The young in the Woodlice closely resemble the parents. They breathe by means of gills. Myriapopa (Millepedes and Centipedes). Terrestrial. Head separate from the rest of the body, which is composed of a number of rings each of which bears one pair (Centipedes) or two pairs (Millepedes) of legs. The young resemble the parents. In millepedes the first three segments have each only one pair of legs. The young are hexapod, but the legs are never all on the first three rings. ARACHNOIDEA (Spiders, Mites, etc.). These have either eight legs attached to the front part of the body (thorax) or two pairs (Gall Mites). The young or larve are usually six- legged (hexapod), and thus differ from the adults. The body is, however, never divided into three marked regions. This class is subdivided as follows :— a. Araneida (Spiders). Legs eight. Breathe by means of air sacs and trachea. Head and mid body or thorax united, forming a so-called cephalo-thorax. Eyes simple. Abdomen not ringed. All beneficial. b, .dearina (Mites and Red Spiders). These have thorax and abdomen more or less in one, and breathe cutaneously and by trachea. The young are six- legged. Ticks are also included here. Hex.vopa (True Insects). Easily told by having the head, thorax and abdomen distinct from one another, and by having six legs. 8 Summary of the Characters of Insects, etc. This class is divided into the following smaller groups called orders :— a. Coleoptera (Beetles). Wings four, the upper pair bard and horny (elytra), A biting mouth present. b. Lepidoptera (Butterflies and Moths). Four wings, more or less covered with scales. Mouth suctorial. c, Hymenoptera (Ants, Bees, Wasps and Sawflies). Four mem- branous wings, few veins. Mouth biting and suctorial. d. Diptera (True Flies). Wings two only; the second pair reduced to two club-shaped processes called halteres or poisers. Mouth piercing or suctorial. ¢. Hemiptera (Bugs, Scale Insects, Plant Lice). Wings four. Mouth piercing and suctorial. The front wings may be leathery at the base (hemi-elytra) in Bugs (Heteroptera), or all transparent, as in Plant Lice (Homoptera), or absent (Scale Insects). J. Neuroptera (Lace-wing and Dragon Flies). Wings four; more or less uniform, with a network of veins. Mouth biting. gy. Orthoptera (Locusts and Grasshoppers). Wings four; front pair more or less leathery, veins more or less straight ; hind pair fan-shaped, with radiating and concentric veins. Mouth biting. h. Thysanoptera (Thrips). Wings four; very narrow, fringed all around with hairs. Mouth weak, biting. t. Aptera (Springtails, etc.) No wings. No life changes. The first four undergo what is called complete mctamorphosis, that is, there are the following stages during growth :— (1) The ovum or egg. (2) The larva (caterpillar, maggot or grub). (3) The pupa or chrysalis. (4) The sexual adult. The third stage is the one in which the active, sexless larva is transformed into the sexual adult, the period when the caterpillar is transformed into the moth. It is a period of rest: and complete change; the pupa is unable to crawl or fly or feed, a quiescent period when most of the organisation of the larva is broken down and reformed. The groups or orders ¢ to 4 undergo what is called incomplete metamorphosis. Here we have the same stages, namely, ege, larva, pupa and adult, but the pupa is active and feeding. Growth and Summary of the Characters of Insects, etc. 9 development takes place gradually, and there is no abrupt change as seen between the larva and the adult in the moth or fly. The final group (7) undergo no metamorphosis. B. The Worms or VERMES are divided into three main groups :— (1) Platyhelminthes or Flat Worms. (2) Nemathelminthes or Round Worms. (3) Annelida or Segmented Worms. So far only some of those belonging to the Nemathelminthes ave known to be injurious to fruit. But it is possible that the Annelid worms, the Hnchytreide, which are parasitic on other plants, may occur on the roots of ground fruit. The injurious Round or Nemathelminth Worms belong to the sub-order Nematoda, and have filiform bodies, the two ends being more or less pointed, and the posterior end of the male, which is usually smaller than the female, slightly curved; they are round in section, their skin smooth or slightly wrinkled, and the sexes are separate. The plant parasites belong to a family of Nematoda known as Anguillulide or Eelworms, which are small, microscopic, thread-like worms. These nematodes live both free in the soil and in the tissues of plants, and others in decaying vegetation. Those which attack plants, and also which are found in decaying plant tissues, have a boring spine. The sexes are separate, and the female produces large e298, Enchytreide are a family of Annelid worms of small size, never more than 1 inch or so in length, and sometimes found in masses around the roots of plants, and are of a white colour. C. Mottiusca of importance are confined to the order G'asteropodua. Two families of this order attack fruit, namely, Snails (Aelicida) and Slugs (Limacidz). The Helicide have a shell into which the snail not only can withdraw its body, but which can be closed up at the entrance by means of a structure called the epiphragm. The Limacide have a very weak shell buried under the skin. Both produce eggs, and the young are like the parents. INSECTS INJURIOUS TO THE APPLE. ( 13) ) THE MORE IMPORTANT INSECTS FEEDING ON APPLE. A. LEPIDOPTERA. Tue Larck TorroisEsHELL ButTerFLy (Vanessa polychioros. Linn.). Foliage, p. 186. Tue Eyvep Hawk Mora (Smerinthus ocellatus. Linn.). Foliage, p. 15. THe APPLE CLEaRWING (4igeria myopiformis. Bork.). Bark, p. 17. Tae Lapret Mors (Lasiocampa quercifolia. Linn.). Foliage, p. 19. THe Brown Tain Morn (Huproctis chrysorrhea. Linn.). Foliage, p. 22. Tue Goxup Tai Mors (Porthesia similis. Fues.). Foliage, p. 27. Tue Lackey Morn (Clissiocampa neustria. Linn.). Foliage, p. 30. Tue DecemBer Mots (Pacilocampa popult. Linn.). Foliage, p. 34. Ficure-or-8 Morn (Diloba cwruleocephala. Linn.). Foliage, p. 35. VapoureR Mots (Orygia antiqua. Linn.). Foliage, p. 38. Tripent Motu (Acronycta pst. Linn.). Foliage, p. 41. Dor Motu (Mamestra persicartw. Linn.). Foliage, p. 264. Goat Moru (Cossus ligniperda. Fab.). Wood, p. 42. Woop Leoparp (Zeuzera pyrina. Linn.). Wood, p. 46. Winter Motu (Cheimatobia brumata. Linn.). Foliage, Blossom and Fruit, p. 50. Morrtep UmBer Motu (Hybernia defoliaria. Clerck.). Foliage and Fruit, p. 58. Marcu Mors (Anisopteryx wscularia. Schiff.). Foliage, p. 61. Pepper anD Sat Mots (Amphidasys betularia, Linn.). Foliage, p. 64. CLoupED Dras Motu (Tentocampa incerta. Huin.). Foliage and Fruit, p. 66. Tue GREEN Puc Mors (Chloroclystis rectangulata. Linn.). Blossom trusses, p. 68. Copuine Mors (Carpocapsa pomonella. Linn.). Fruit, p. 69. Tux Common Tortrix (Tortriz ribeana. Hb.). Foliage and buds, p. 79. Auurep Tortrix (Tortrix heparana. Schiff.). Foliage and buds, p. 79. | (Tortrix podana. Sc.). (Tortria rosana. Linn.). Foliage and buds, (Stderia achatana. Fab.). pp. 80 and 81. (Pyrodes rheediella. Clerck.). | Tue ALLieD Bup Morn (Antithesia variegana. Hb.). Foliage and buds, p. 82. Tue Bup Mors (Hedya ocellana. Fab.). Buds and young flowers and foliage, p. 82. SmaLLt Ermine Mors (Hyponomeuta malinella, Zell.). Foliage, p. 86. Piru Morus (Blastodacna hellerella, Dup., and Blastodacna vinolentella, H.8.). Shoots, p. 92. ; OrHER TOoRTRICES 14 Insect Pests. A. LEPIDOPTERA—continwed. Appie Lear Mixer (Lyonetia clerckella, Linn.). Mining leaves, p. 96. Buster Mors (Cemiostoma scitella, Zell.). Leaves (Vide Pear). Witp Cras Lear Miner (Nepticula malella. Stain.). Mines leaves, p. 100. ; Appue Lear Bursrer Morn (Orniz petiolella. Stain.). Mines foliage, p. 103. Cast Brarers (Coleophoride spp.). Foliage and blossom, p. 196. B. COLEOPTERA. Appte Buossom Weervit (Anthonomus pomorum. Curtis). Blossom, . 104. itiza oe Currer (Rhynchites cwruleus. De Geer), Erc. Twigs and shoots, pp. 117-118. Buossom Berries (Meligethes eneus. Fab., etc.). Blossom, p. 115. Tur Frurr Bark Brerre (Scolytus rugulosus. Ratz.). Bark, p. 111. Suor Borer Breette (Xyleborus dispar. Fab.). Wood (Vide Plum). Autiep Suor Borer (Xyleborus saxesent. Ratz.). Wood (Vide Plum). Rosr Cuarer Cetonia aurata, Linn.). Foliage and Blossom (Vide Raspberry). Cock Cuarer (Melolontha vulgaris. Fab.). Foliage and roots (Vide Raspberry). Garpen Caarer (Phyllopertha horticola. Linn.). Foliage and roots (Vide Raspberry). Tur Green Lear Weevin (Phyllobius maculicornis. Germ.). Foliage and roots, p. 119. Tus Brown Lear Weevin (Phyllobius oblongus. Linn.). Foliage and buds, p. 119. C. HYMENOPTERA (Sawflies, Wasps). AppLe SawF ty (Hoplocampa testudinea. Cameron). Fruit, p. 122. AppLe Empuytus (Hmphytus sp.). Snags and shoots, p. 127. Wasps (Vespa vulgaris, Linn., and V. sylvestris, Scop.). Fruit, p. 129. Lear Corrine Brg (Megachile ligniseca. Kirby). Wood. D. HEMIPTERA (Aphides, Scales, etc.). PERMANENT AppLE Apuis (Aphis pomi. De Geer). Curls leaves, p. 183. Buossom anp Stem AppLe Apuis (Aphis fitchti. Sand.). Shoots, p. 187. Rosy Appts Apuis (Aphis sorbi. Kalt.). Leaves, p. 136. Wootty Apuis (Schizoneura lanigera. Hausm.). Roots, trunks, boughs, shoots and leaves, p. 141. AppLe Sucker (Psylla mali, Forst.). Leaf and blossom buds and blossom, p. 153. Mussexi ScaLe (Lepidosaphes wilmi. Linn.). Bark, leafage and fruit, p. 165. OysTER-SHELL Bark Louse (Aspidiotus ostreeformis. Sig.). Bark (Vide Plum). Brown Scare (Lecaniwm capree. Linn.). Bark, p. 175. Cuckoo Spir Insecr (Philwnus spumarius. Linn.). Leaves (axils of), p. 200. Insects Injurious to the Apple. 15 THE EYED HAWK MOTH. (Smerinthus ocellatus. Linn.) The large caterpillars of this beautiful Hawk Moth are sometimes reported from apple trees, upon which their presence is soon detected by the great amount of foliage they devour and the large pellets of “frags” dropped by them. The damage done may be serious if numbers occur. Miss Ormerod (1) records these larve as stripping the leaves of apples at Bewdley, her correspondent saying, “The caterpillar is very destruc- tive”; another communication from Meldrith, Cambridgeshire, stated, “They entirely denude the trees of all their leaves.” They have been sent me from several places in Worcestershire, Suffolk, Kent and Surrey, with notes regarding the damage they have done. The damage is more apparent than real. Knowing, however, the ravenous habits of the Hawk Moth caterpillars when young, it is not unlikely that any undue increase might lead to much logs occasioned by the young larvee. The chief food plants are willow, sallow and poplar, but they also occur on sloe, peach and almond. DESCRIPTION AND LirE-HIstTory. The moth measures from 23 inches to nearly 3? inches in wing expanse (Fig. 1). The fore wings are of a rich grey-brown, with pale chocolate or olive-brown markings, a median bar being noticeable ; the hind wings are rosy-red, becoming rather greyish at the edges, and with a large greyish-blue eye-spot on each, encircling a black pupil and sur- rounded by black, as seen in Figure 1; the broad thorax is dark in the middle, greyish-brown at the sides, and the abdomen is also greyish-brown. The moth frequents gardens and orchards, but especially osier beds and willows. It appears from the end of May until the middle of July, and may be found all over England, but is rare in Scotland. The ova are laid singly on the leaves. The egg is plump and oval, the upper surface shrunken in the middle, the shell shiny, but finely reticulate ; in colour it varies from pale-greenish to yellow. The larvee may be found in the months of June, August and September, the majority in the last two months. When mature the larva is 3 inches long; in colour it is 16 Insect Pests. green, sometimes bluish-ereen, at others bright apple-green, minutely dotted with white and with eight white or pale yellow diagonal bars on each side, bordered above with darker colour; the tail is light blue, the apex being deep green, reddish-brown or black, rarely uniform blue; the spiracles are yellowish-white, edged with brown, ‘ (FP. Edenden. FIG. 1.—THH EYED HAWK MOTH (Smerinthus ocellatus, Linn.) Adult, larva and pupa, The length of larval life is about six weeks, They then enter the soil and make a cavity about 2 inches deep. The pupa is deep brown, and measures often 1? inch remains throughout the winter and spring, ; in this stage the Eyed Hawk Insects Injurious to the Apple. 17 TREATMENT. All that is necessary as far as present attacks have gone is hand- picking the caterpillars. Should they ever oecur in such large numbers as I have seen them in osier beds in Middlesex and Huntingdonshire, then spraying with arsenate of lead would prove successful. REFERENCES, (1) Ormerod, HB. A. Report of Observations of Injurious Insects, ete., during the year 1894 (18th Report) p. 1 (1895). 2) Buckler, We * The Larve of British Butterflies and Moths,’ vol. IL., pp. 99-108 (1857). THE APPLE CLEARWING. CEycria myopiformis, Bork.) On the 21st of June, 1907, larvie and pupw of this Clearwing Moth were sent me from the Croydon district by the Seeretary of the Horticultural Mutual Improvement Society (3). The Jarvie were taken out of an apple tree, Warner's ]xing, where they had been working havoc underneath the bark. They occurred in patches. In many instances they were found in the wounds caused by Woolly Aphis. “The attacked trees are about six years old,” wrote the Sceretary, Mr. Boshier, “and are in good bearing condition.” On the 26th of June a further lot of pup were sent, taken from Duchess Favourite, Warner's King, Colonel Vaughan and Winter Queening. The larvee were mostly found about 7 feet from the soil. This Clearwing Moth (Fig. 2) is some- what similar to the Currant Clearwing in general appearance, but can at once be told by the broad red belt on the abdomen. The length is about 20 mm., with a wing expanse of 22 to 23 mm. The head, thorax and body are black; the latter has a bright _.. sovis couanwise 3100n, red band above, white beneath in the male; ( pyeria myopiformis. Bork.) in the female the underside is only edged with white; the tail fan is black. The wings are transparent, with dark sealed areas. The moths fly by day, and are found im May, June and July. (eBeeds. FIG, 2. C Is Insect Pests. Lree-Hisrory AND TLABIrs. They frequent gardens and orchards, and lay their eggs almost exclusively on apple trees. Wood (1), in his ‘British Moths,’ says they are “ said to feed on the small stems and twigs of the apple tree.” This does not appear to be always the case, for the trunks only seemed to be attacked at Croydon. The moth lays its eggs on the trunk of the tree and the larvie tunnel under the bark; there they work until they are mature, and then they eat out a hollow in the wood, which they line with silk of a dull grey colour, and cover the outside with brown wood chips. The larva is dull yellowish-white. Buckler (2) describes a pinkish pulsating dorsal vessel, with an internal purplish - pink tinge from segments five to eight; this could not be detected in the specimens sent me. The head is retractile and shiny reddish-brown ; the second segment is somewhat wider than the others, and has a brown dorsal shield; the seements are very distinct, and the prolegs FIG, 3.—COCOONS AND PUP.E OF THE APPLE CLEARWING (.2geria@ myopiforimis, Bork.). small and very inconspicuous; there are traces of spots, each termi- nated by a bristle. The specimens sent were mature, and measured a little more than 3 inch in Jeneth. The whole larva seems rather flattened. The mature larvie were very slugeish when extracted from their irregular burrows. They had all pupated by the 29th of June. The pupie (Pig. 3) are bright pale brown, and lie completely protected in the silken cases covered with rich brown wood ehips and apparently some “frass” from the larval workines. In length the pupie varied from a little over } to nearly 3 inch. They were all curved and slender, and tapered to a point at the apex, which is bluntly rounded with a ring of spines; the first five abdominal rings have two dorsal rows of spines, the two following, one row each, The spines are somewhat darker than the ground colour. When ready to hatch, the pup make their way partly out of the cocoons, and the empty brown skins are seen protruding from the trees. Insects Injurious to the Apple. 19 TREATMENT can only be of very doubtful benefit, as the larvie are difficult to get at, lut it is said that a sticky dressing smeared up the trunks in May easily checks the egress of the moths, and prevents furtber ege-laying, REPERENCES, (1) Wood, BF. O. ‘Natural History of British Moths, vol. I, p. 18. Pl. 5, fig. 5 (1872), (2) Buckler, William. ‘The Larve of British Butterflies and Moths,’ vol. IT., pp. 128-129, Pl. xxix., fig. 1 (1887). (8) Theobald, I’. TV. Report on Economic Zoology for year ending April 1st, 1907, p. 20 (1907). THE LAPPET MOTH. (Lusiocampa quercifolia, Linn.) This is another handsome moth which now and again is sent by orchardists, owing to its large and strange caterpillars devouring such quantities of folage. Fortunately, it is not very common and certainly cannot be looked upon as a pest. The quaint and active pupe in the cocoons are also frequently sent. Numbers have — been brought me by hedge- trimmers who _ have noticed them moving, and taken them for mice, the mouse-coloured cocoon having led to this mistake. The ravenous larvie destroy the leaves of apple and plum in orchards and gardens, often stripping whole shoots and boughs. Miss Ormerod refers to it (1), but 1 know of eae ne no other record of it as FIG. 4. EGGS OF LAPPET MOTH. (< 20.) causing annoyance. It oceurs fairly commonly over the Midlands, eastern, western and southern counties of England. o 2 20 Insect Pests. Its food plants are the apple, plum, pear, hawthorn, blackthorn, willow and sallow. Lire-History AND Habits. The moth appears at the end of June and in July. It varies in length, the male being much smaller than the female ; the latter is often 34+ inches from wing to wing, the male seldom more than 24. The form is shown in Fieure 6, page 21; the colours are rich brown, with irregular dark transverse scolloped lines, the posterior wings very similar, and both pairs have scolloped edges. When at rest the under wings project in a characteristic manner beneath the upper. The egos (Fig. +) are very marked. The Jarvie hatch in late summer and autumn, and hibernate during the winter. Previous to this they moult once, and then remain ex- tended on a twig (Fig. 5) and assume the colour of the wood. The imature larve reach over + inches in length, they are grey and vrey-brown in colour with faint V-shaped dark marks or other indis- tinct ornamentation down the back ; always present, how- ever, are two beautiful deep blue or purple, velvety bands ea oCross the segments next the Fra. 5, head. Above the lees on YOUNG LARVAL LAPPET READY FOR WINTERING each side and on all the segments is a row of fleshy pad-like appendages with long grey hairs, like lappets, and hence the name “ Lappet Moth”; there is a more or less prominent hump on the last but one segment, and all the body is finely hairy (Fig. 68). When mature in summer the caterpillar spins a love oval cocoon, pointed at each end, in all I have seen, and of a mouse colour, hairs being mixed with the silk. This cocoon is spun up amongst the Insects Injurious to the Apple. | twigs of the trees, in crevices in bark and amonest rubbish on the ground, The large dark brown pupa is very motile, and moves with such vigour that the cocoon shakes and even inoves alone an even surface, [h. Edenden, FIG, 6.—THE LAPPET MOTIL (Lasioeaimpa quercifolia, Linn.). A, female and male; B, mature larva, TREATMENT. If this curious moth becomes sufticiently abundant in plantations it could be easily kept from doing harm by arsenical spraying. So far, all that is necessary is hand collection. 22 Insect Pests. REFERENCES. (1) Ormerod, E. A. ‘Handbook of Insects Injurious to Orchard and Bush Fruits,’ p. 24 (1895). _ (2) Ormerod, E. A. Eighteenth Report of Observations of Injurious Insects, p. 4 (1895). THE BROWN TAIL MOTH. (Euproctis chrysorrhea. Linn.) This moth is a common British insect, and its presence in America is only too well known on account of the vast amount of harm it is doing there. It appears to have been accidentally introduced into New England some seventeen years ago on rose bushes from France. Since then it has rapidly spread, and has not only caused damage over a large tract of country, but appears to be still on the increase. Besides being found in Britain, this insect is common on the Continent, and extends eastwards as far as the Himalayas and as far south as Algeria. According to Stainton (1), the Brown Tail Moth is local. Where it does oceur, however, it may become very abundant. Tt belongs to the family of moths known as Liparide, and is closely related to the Gold ‘Tail, but has many divergent traits in its life-history. One of its curious features is that it may occur one year in enormous numbers and then completely disappear. In Kollar (2) is recorded the following :—‘“ In the summer of 1782 this insect created great alarm over the country from its multifarious colonies which were so immensely numerous, we are informed by Mr. Curtis, that in many ea ee the parishes near London subscriptions ANS ODN OEM ORTOUNST DE, were opened and the poor people employed to cut off the webs at one shilling per bushel, and which were burnt under the inspection of the church- wardens, overseers or beadles of the parish.” LF. Edenden, FIG. 7. Insects Injurious to the Apple. 2: Prayers were even offered up in some of the churches to deliver the country from the apprehended ap- proaching calamity (3). It occurred in enormous numbers in East Kent in 1901, next year it was scarce, and since then it has been very difficult to find “tents” of these caterpillars. Amonest localities where it has been or is found may be mentioned Epping, Lewes, Tenterden, Ramsgate, Canterbury, Wye, Sittingbourne, Fav- ersham, Hythe, Ashford, Linton, Teignmouth, Bristol, Lymineton, New- market, Bisternc, Norwich, Stow- market, Black Park, Dorking, ete. The damage done by these tent- forming caterpillars is very similar to that done by the Lackey Moth. ANOTHER NON-HANGING WINTER TENT (A) AND EGG-MASS (B). (Half natural size.) Lire-History anp Hagsrrs. The female moth (Fig. 9) has pure satiny white fore wings with a faint dusky spot on each; hind wines pure white; the head, thorax and abdomen pure white; a dense brown to golden brown pad-like tail tuft, and the brown colour may spread on to a few segments of the abdomen; the male has no dusky spots on the front wings, and the brown tail tuft is much smaller and more fanlike. The wing expanse varies between 13 inch and 14 inch. The moth is a night-flyer, and may be found resting by day on walls, leaves, lamps, etc., and is very sluggish, falling down as if dead when its resting-place is shaken. (PF. Bdenden. The female lays her eggs on the Sen ak ane sees reece under surface of the leaves. These (Natural size.) are placed in a long mass reaching FIG. 9. 24 Insect Pests. sometimes an inch in length; these long egg-masses are covered over by the hairs from the female’s tail, the eggs being completely hidden, The ova are round, of a dull golden hue, and as many as two hundred and fifty may occur in each batch. They are not only laid on apple, pear and plum, but also on oak, elm, blackthorn and whitethorn. The larvie hatch out from the beginning of August and live on throughout the winter. At first they are very small, of a dirty yellow colour, with black head and four rows of black dots and numerous hairs. They at once bend over and spin a single leaf together, eating only the epidermis, and at the same time they attach the leaf to the twig by a mass of silk, so that it cannot fall off. Towards September they commence to make a regular nest of dull grey silk, attaching several leaves together in the process ; these dead leaves become lined and covered with silk and are all firmly united. This nest (Figs. 7 and 8) remains on the trees all the winter. In September the larvee moult and still feed on as long as the leaves contain any sap. This small nest they use as a protection in damp weather and at night. Even after the leaves have gone it 1s not unusual to see the small larvie basking in the sun outside their tent. As the weather becomes colder they become dormant and remain in their dwellings. The hardest frosts do not seem to harm them. In the spring they commence to feed on the leaves as they open, the young larvw wandering some way from their nest. Very frequently a colony will divide, two nests being made and sometimes even a third is formed. Early in May they moult again, and assume a deep brown colour with reddish-brown hairs, a row of white spots on each side, a narrow double broken line of red on the back, dark between, and with two prominent bright red tubercles on the back of the eleventh and twellth segments; these two tubercles are depressed in the middle and can be elevated or withdrawn at will by the caterpillars. Their object is unknown. If it is to frighten off enemies they are useless, for the Brown Tail Moth caterpillar in this country is subject FIG. 10.—PART OF EGG-MASS AND LARVA OF BROWN TAIL MOTH, Insects Injurious to the Apple. 25 to much parasitic infestation. After the last moult the caterpillars spread out over the fruit trees. They then seem to forsake their nest, and they devour the leafage wholesale. From the end of June to the beginning of July they spin cocoons amonest the leaves of the fruit trees, as a rule several together forming a large mass wuted by a dusky web. In their cocoons they change to deep brown pupe. ollar (2) says as muny as twelve cocoons miy be gathered into one ball. Some vears ago [ counted as many as forty on a damson tree in one mass (4). From. thexe pupe the moths come out in the latter part of July and in August, and soon begin to lay their long evo-masses, Navenan ENEMIES. Kollar (2) records both the eous and the larvie attacked by [chneumon flies. These para- sites, which are apparently common on the Continent, do not occur, as far as we know, in Britain. They are considered important by American ento- mologists, who are introducing them into the States. Howard (5) tells us that many thou- sands have been introduced and released in the vicinity of Boston. The only abundant parasite that I have come across im Britain is a Tachinid fly, Vhelymorpha vertiginosa, Fl, This fly FIG. 11.—TOP OF A MATUL “TENT, WITH NEARLY LARV.E, appeared in great nambers in 1901, and I feel sure had a large share in stamping out this moth (1). 26 Insect Pests. Brown TAIL CATERPILLAR RaAsu. The hairs of the Brown Tail caterpillar are very finely barbed and also brittle. If one touches a caterpillar these hairs stick in the skin and break off, and cause very severe irritation in the form of a distinct rash. Moreover, when the insect occurs in Jarge numbers, much inconvenience is caused by the hairs, broken off at moulting time or when the cocoons are being formed, blowing about in the air. They then not only settle on the face but get into the mouth, eyes, etc., and cause very great annoyance and some danger to the afflicted person. The worst urticating hairs are those short brown ones from the tubercles on the back and sides. Howard (5) describes very bad symptoms resulting from these hairs in America, The best remedy to apply when one has been covered with these hairs is the following :—Carbolic acid 4 drachm, zinc oxide 4 oz.; lime water 8 oz. PREVENTION AND REMEDIES. The winter tents (Figs. 7 and 8) should be sougit for and burnt; as they are easily seen this is not a difficult task. Any “tents” that show in early summer should also be destroyed either during a wet day or towards evening. Itis advisable to hold a sheet under the tents when being cut off in the summer, in case any of the caterpillars fall. Should these caterpillars appear unawares in a plantation the whole should be sprayed with arsenate of lead. REFERENCES. (1) Stainton, H. T. ‘Manual of British Butterflies and Moths,’ I., p. 134 (1857). (2) Kollar, Vincent. ‘A Treatise on Insects, etc.’ Eng. Trans., p. 190 (1840). (83) Curtis, John. ‘ History of the Brown Tail Moth’ (1782). (4) Theobald, F. V. Tent Caterpillars, Board of Agriculture Journal, Sept. (1901). (5) Howard, L. O. The Brown Tail Moth, and how to Control it. Farmers’ Bulletin, No. 264. U.S. Dept. Agri. (1906). (6) Theobald, F. V. Report on Economic’ Zoology for year ending April Ist, 1907, p. 25 (1907). Insects Injurious to the Apple. 27 THE GOLD TAIL MOTH. (Porthesia similis, Fues.*) The caterpillar of this moth is often very harmful, not only to hawthorn hedges, but also to fruit trees throughout the country at certain times. It oceurs on apple, plum, pear, cherry, nuts and roses, The pretty caterpillars devour the foliage. The chief harm is done by the young larvee when they come from their winter quarters, for they feed ravenously on the tender leaves. This beautiful moth, with pure satiny white wings, is found settled with its wings folded downwards on leaves, palings, lamps, ete, in August. In the male is noticeable a dusky spot on the inner border of the fore wings. Thorax and abdomen are pure white, but the latter has a golden yellow tail tuft. In size the male varies from 1 inch to 1+ inch, the female up to 12 inch. Lire-History anp Hanirs, The life-history may be briefly summed up as follows: The moths lay their eges in August on apple, plum, pear, cherry, hawthorn, hazel, cob, oaks, Spanish chest- nut (3), roses and other trees. The eges are laid in golden coloured nests of hairs derived from the female “tail.” They TF. Edenden. hatch in some seven to ten days, and the Fis. 12.—sorp tare Morn aT rest. small larvee feed upon the leaves until Sea) the autumn, during this time they moult once (Taschenberg (2) says twice). As soon as the leaves harden, these little caterpillars at once go into winter quarters. They seek out shelter in bark crevices, under the bark scales, under moss and lichens, and in various holes. Here they spin small dull grey cocoons about + inch in length, and remain hibernating during the winter. Although they appear to be solitary, yet numbers will collect in any suitable place of shelter. * Also known as P. aurifiua, Fab. 28 Insect Pests. In spring they come forth as soon as the buds swell, and com- mence to feed on the youne leaves. Some sent from Evesham came [P. Edenden, PIG. 13.--THE GOLD TALL MOTH (Porthesia stimilis). Aand B, female and male; C. summer cocoon ; D, small winter cocoon ; I, larva. out of their small cocoons on the 18th of March. They continued feeding until July, but many matured in the latter part of June. The larva is deep brownish-black, with a bright red dorsal stripe, a ved line on each side spotted with white, and another above the legs. The seements have tufts of brown hairs. LA. VD. Rintoul, FIG. 14. YOUNG GOLD TALL LARV.K ON PLUM LBAP, When mature if spins up in a erey cocoon with larval hairs in its meshes, and changes to a deep brown pupa; these are usually Insects Injurious to the Apple. 29 formed on or near the food plants, sometimes between leaves, at others on the bark or between the forks, or on palings, ete., near by, There seems something wrong with the account of this insect given in the English translation of Kollu’s ‘Treatise on Insects lujurious to Farmers,’ ete., by J. and M. Loudon, for on page 199 they speak of 2. aurifiue as the Brown Tail Moth, and on page 190 PD. chrysorvrhea is pat as the Gold Tail (1). The popular names are most appropriate if rightly applied, and this error is pointed out in case that interesting little German work falls into the hands of those who are not fully acquainted with the iusect’s economy. The Gold Tail does not form aweb at all, the larvee feed solitarily, but the Brown Tail (2. chrysor- rhaw) does. That it is of frequent annoyance we know, but the damage done when the larvie are large ts comparatively slight, compared with the little known harm caused by it in the young stage in ies the spring, which we can easily check. PREVENTION AND TREATMEN’. This consists of catching the larvee by enticing them to some comfortable winter quarters, such as has been found in the banding adopted for Codline Moth prevention. Mr. Small of Evesham (4) for- warded me many of the small winter cocoons found under the sacking placed to catch Codling Moth, and ria. 15. such las been reported by several other correspon- pean rrerrine dents. These bands and the colleeted larval cocoons a ean be burnt in winter with the Codling Maggots as caught by them. The caterpillars, when appearing in any numbers, can be killed very readily by spraying with arsenate of lead, which has been found much more effective than Varis green for this species. The only bird that feeds upon these larve is the Cuckoo, REFERENCES. (1) Kollar, Vineent. * A Treatise on Insects Injurious to Gardeners, Foresters and Farmers,’ p. 199 (1840). (2) Taschenberg, EF. L. + Praktisehe Insekten-kunde.’ Die Schimetterlinge. (Dritter Theil), p. 95 (1880). (3) Theobald, F. Ve Insects attacking the Spanish or Sweet Chestnut. Journal South Eastern Agricultural College, No. 8, p. 47 (1899). (4) Theobald, F. VV. Report on Economic Zoology for the year ending April Ist, 1907, p. 22 (1907). 30 Insect Pests. THE LACKEY MOTH. (Clissiocampa neustria. Linn.) The Lackey Moth belongs to the family Bombycidee, more or less hairy moths, the males having pectinated antenne, the females thread-like ones. This moth jis widely distributed over the south, west and middle [FL Edenden. FIG. 16.—NESTS OF LACKEY MOTH. (One-fifth natural size.) Insects Injurious to the Apple. =) of England, but is most abundant in the south and west. It does not seem to occur further north than York, where it is uncommon. In the south of Eneland it is always more or less common in our plantations, but at certain times it appears in enormous numbers, especially in apple and pear orchards, where it strips the foliage. Only last year a vast concourse of them appeared in the Sittingbourne and Faversham areas of ent and earried all before them, one grower stating that he could collect them by bushels. Carpenter (1) records it from Iveland. It is particularly common in France, where there are laws compelling growers to cut off and destroy the “tents” and the larve. Gmerm Meneville states that it is one of the most injurious fruit and forest tree pests in France. ollar (2) gives an account of it, and says that it is troublesome in Germany. Unfortunately it feeds on hawthorn hedges and in woods, and being capable of moderate powers of flight, it is thus always able to invade our orchards and gardens. Lire-History anp Hanrtrs. The moth (Fig. 18) is very variable in size and colour, and measures about 1 inch in expanse of wings in the male and 14 inch in the female. The front wings are a rusty reddish-brown, ochreous or brick-dust red, with two pale or dusky transverse hues across them, the space between the two bars being often more deeply coloured than the rest of the wings; the hind wings are the sume tint as the fore, but often a little paler. aks FIG, 17.--EGG BANDS OF LACKEY MOTH. The moth occurs in July and August, and a few stragglers may be found in September. The females deposit their egos in rings or bands, and usually choose the year’s growth of wood. Each band contains from forty up to two hundred eggs. The bands are shown in Fig. 17. When the wood shrinks they may become quite loose and turn round and round, but at other times they may be found tightly gummed to the shoots. In colour they are dull erey to grevish-brown, with a sinali Young hatching out on right. (Twice natural size. ) 32 (E. Tonge. FIG, 18.—FEMALE AND MALE LACKEY MOTHS. Insect Pests. dark central depression, and are readily seen on the shoots. About the end of April they hatch out. The young caterpillars are quite dark at first and somewhat hairy. Very soon they commence to form a web of fine silk, enclosine a few leaves, and beneath this they con- tinue to feed for some time. As they grow, the silken house is enlarged until it may reach over a foot in leneth. At first the larvie seem to feed entirely under the tent, but as they grow they spread out over the trees and feed upon the foliage, returning to their web at night and in dull wet weather. They become brilliant coloured as they erow, being bluish-grey, with two black spots on the seoment next the head and also two on the bluish-grey head; three orange-red stripes run along each side, and he- tween the two lowest of these is a broad |lue stripe with little black specks, these brillant lines being separated by black and black spotted with blue; a pure white line runs down the hack, with a narrow dark line on each side. The whole larva has upon it rather rusty hairs, which are darker above than ut the sides. When full erown the caterpillar 1$ inch in length. warm days they reaches On may often be found in batches, several lying parallel to another, either one on {Horace Kiught. FIG. 19,—CATERPILLAR OF LACKEY MOTH, (Not quite full grown.) Insects Injurious to the Apple. 33 the outside of the tent or along the branches. They are somewhat timid and fall to the ground on the tree being shaken, but soon crawl hack to the foliage again, Maturity is reached from the middle of June to the end of July, when they disperse and spin cocoons of loose pale silk; mixed with it are a number of hairs and a yellowish powder. The cocoons may be spun singly amongst the leaves, or on fences, ete., or, as seen in Fig. 20, a mass of thei together. In the cocoon the larva changes to a dark brown pupa, from which the moth hatches in two or three weeks. The food plants are very varied, such as oak, elm, hawthorn and roses being their favourites, besides the fruit trees men- tioned. PREVENTION AND REMEDIES. Many of the ege bands are naturally cut off by pruning, and these of course should be burnt. As the ecg bands are readily seen, it would he advisable after an attack of Lackey Moth to go over the plantation and see that all of them are destroyed in winter. Spraying with arsenical washes has been found of great bene- LF. Bdenden, fit, and the early destruction FIG, 20,—COCOONS OF LACKEY MOTHS AND JUST of tents should always be HATCHED ADULTS. seen to. For this we can use long-handled pruners, and care should be taken to see that all the caterpillars are destroyed. Where large trees are attacked and spraying is not possible, an excellent plan is to have the larve shaken down. Thick grease bands placed around the trunks of the trees will stop those which are not killed on the ground from ascending again. NaturaL ENEMIES. No insect parasites are of any value in checking the Lackey Moth. Of birds the only one that seems to feed upon the caterpillars is the Cuckoo, which is well known to feed on hairy larve. D 3 Insect Pests. VEFERENCES. (1) Carpenter, G. H. Injurious Insects, ete., observed in Ireland during the year 1906. Eco. Proc. Royal Dublin Society, I. pt. 11, p. 488 (1907). (2) Kollar, Vincent. ‘A Treatise on Insects,’ p. 200 (1840). (3) Theobald, F. V. Report on Eeonomic Zoology for the year ending April Ist. 1907, p. 25 (1907). THE DECEMBER MOTH. (Pecilocampa populi. Linn.) The natural food plants of this insect in its caterpillar stage are poplar, lime, oak, elm, birch, sallow, elder, ash, aspen and whitethorn. Carpenter (1) records it on apple in Treland, from Neweastle, Co. Clare, where it was very injurious. The moth takes its name from its appearing in December, but a few may often be found in the preceding month. It is a common and widely distributed insect, especially in the Midlands and the south and west of England. Lire-Hisrory, Hapits, Erc, The moth measures a little over 15 inch in wing expanse; the fore wings are a dark purple-red, brown to rusty brown, inclining to a brighter hue at the inner corner, where it is followed by a wavy buff line and another curved line across the wing beyond the middle ; the hind wings are paler and show a still paler central stripe. In some specimens the ground colour is blackish-brown, and the brighter markings are absent. The F. Edenden. : rae thorax and body, as seen in the photograph, are robust and hairy. The moths thy at night im Decem- her, and are attracted to hght, being frequently found in houses and villave shops. The female apparently lays her eees ivht e female apparently lays her eggs at night and they do not hatch until the following March or April (Carpenter) (1). The cater- piular is very variable; Buckler (2) figures four quite different forms after the last moult. The normal appearance is as follows: bluish- grey with a double row of grey, black-edged spots along the baek, and w row of large black spots on each side, there are also dashes of FIG, 21.—DERCEMBER MOTI (Peweilocampa populi). Insects Injurious to the Apple. 35 crimson and black on the back; the venter is dull orange with black spots, and the body is hairy, the sides fringed below with more numerous and rather long grey hairs, with a few still longer dark brown ones. In length they reach 1? inch. Another well marked form described by Morris (3) is yellowish-grey with a dark grey band spotted with white on each segment, darker on the back, on each of which is an interrupted orange line and two red spots on the posterior part of the second segment. Another form is dull brownish-grey with a black spot at the sides of each segment and with traces of dark brown spots edged with black on the dorsum, and four white spots in front and two behind. Buckler (2) figures a beautiful variety of pale grey and dark grey hue with a black dorsal line swelling out on each segment and’ bearing on each swollen area a pair of yellow spots; the hairs brown. They mature by June and then pupate in a slaty-grey cocoon amongst leaves, etc., at the foot of the trees, or even in the soil. The pupa is reddish-brown. TREATMENT. Should this caterpillar occur, as it has in Ireland, in such numbers as to do harm, it may easily be checked by spraying with arsenate of lead. REFERENCES. (1) Carpenter, G. H. Injurious Insects and other Animals observed in Treland during the year 1905. Eco. Proc. Roy. Dub. Soa., vol. I., pt. 8, p. 333 (1806). (2) Buckler, W. ‘The Larve of British Butterflies and Moths,’ vol. III., p. 58. Pls. xlvii. and xlix, (1889). (8) Morris, F. O. ‘A Natural History of British Moths,’ vol. L, p. 81 (1872). THE FIGURE-OF-8 MOTH. (Diloba ceruleocephala. Linn.) The caterpillar of this rather inconspicuous yet readily identified moth is popularly called the “ Blue-head.” It feeds upon apple, plum and cherry, and is also recorded as feeding upon blackthorn and sloe by Morris (1) and Stainton (2). It is frequently abundant on hawthorn hedges. In Huntingdonshire in 1887 the writer found it stripping the hedgerows at Swineshead and Great Staughton, but the following year it was quite scarce. Miss Ormerod refers to it in 1890 (3), specimens being regularly sent to her as doing mischief in the orchards. It, however, is seldom a serious enemy of the apple. The reason D2 36 Insect Pests. of their sudden disappearance after an abnormal number have appeared, as in 1887, is undoubtedly the fact that a heavy storm or wind knocks them off the trees, and then many are destroyed. This was pointed out by Taschenberg many years ago, Lirk-Hisrory, Hapirs, Erc. The moth (Fig. 22) appears in September and October, but a few may hatch as early as the 20th of August, and some have been taken as late as the 28th of November, Miss Ormerod (3) records them as being taken at Toddington on the 18th of November. In size the moth varies very considerably; the male [i Ye ®: Rintowt, may he less than 1 inch in expanse Ee ak ce een Sr of wings, the female may be over 1; inch, The fore wings are of various shades of ereyish-brown .and brown with pale ring-like spots, one on each wing, being of the form of the figure 8; in some specimens a faint rosy tinge is notice- able; the hind wings are greyish- brown with darker ray-like lines and a dark wedge-shaped patch at the hinder anele. Tt is common and widely spread all over Britain, and may be found flying at dusk and when dark in orchards and gardens and along hedgerows. The female lays her eges singly and usually widely apart, but now and then one finds them in eroups of five up to ten, and according to Ormerod (1) in groups of six or eight. They are placed anywhere on the shoots and spurs of the fruit Male and female. [F. Edenden. k 2 FIG, 23. —EGGS OF FIGURE-OF-8 MOTH. trees and are easily seen owlne to (Diloba earuleocephala.) their grey or greyish-brown lue: Se a a 2 they are round in form, flattened below and with radiating ribs. As described by Buckler (2), they ane curiously severed with brown Insects Injurious to the Apple. 3 hairs. These are placed in an irregular manner, and soon vet washed off by rain. The hairs, as seen in the photograph, are dark and are not found on all the eves : (Fig. 23). The ova hatch about the time the leaves are beginning to expand. The larvie at once feed upon them, usually taking their food sinely, even if the eves are laid close together. The caterpillar (Fig. 25) is very Luli ‘ FIG. 24.—FIGURE-OF-S MOTH AT REST. marked, owing to its head being blue with two simall black spots; the body is of varied hue; some are yeHowish-ereen, others bluish-erey and more yellowish-green below, with a broken yellow line along the hack and another on each side below the air holes, and the segments have small black spots; the pale legs are also spotted with black, as also are the sucker-feet. When full fed the caterpillars are plhunp and very sluggish and reach over 1 inch in leneth. They devour the foliage with rapidity when about half erown, and continue to do so until a few days lefore they are fil fed. They are mostly mature by the end of June ; some sent me from Yorkshire were Just ready to spin by the first week in June in 1900, others have been observed as late as the 7th of July (1905), a record in an old notebook records one spinning on the 3rd of July (884). Many of the caterpillars leave the trees when full fed and spina rough ervey cocoon on any convenient td. 1. D. Rintoul. spot, others do so on the twigs FIG, 25.—LARV.B OF THE FIGURE-OF-8 MOTH. and boughs of the trees. With Tmmature forms on foliage. the silk are mineled bits of hark, and they may be even entirely covered with it. From these cocoons the moths hateh out in September and onwards into November. 38 Insect Pests. PREVENTION AND TREATMENT. As this moth comes to light it may possibly be prevented from causing any annoyance by using light-traps, such as Vermorel’s “Medusa Lamp” (vide App. D). Mr. Wise reported to Miss Ormerod that in November they were catching this moth by means of lamps in the Toddington plantations. The arrangement employed there was simply placing a lighted lamp in an open shed, which had the underneath parts of the roof tarred or greased. The Medusa lamp mentioned, however, is far more convenient and will attract many night-flying moths and so prevent egg-laying. When numerous enough to need treatment, the arsenate of lead wash is all that is neceessary. REFERENCES, (1) Morris, F. O. ‘A Natural History of British Moths,’ vol. IL., p. 62 (1872). (2) Stainton, H. T. ‘ Manual of British Butterflies and Moths,’ vol. I., p. 125 (1857). (8) Ormerod, E. A. ‘Handbook of Insects Injurious to Orchard and Bush Fruits,’ p. 16 (1898). (4) Buckler, W. ‘Larve of British Butterflies and Moths,’ vol. III., p. 1 (1888). (5) Taschenberg, L, ‘ Praktische Insekten-kunde,’ III., p. 101 (1880). THE VAPOURER MOTH. (Orygia antiqua. Linn.) The Vapourer Moth is one of those insects which delights as much in a town life as in a country one. It is no unusual thing to see the male of this moth flying in the crowded thoroughfares of London and the suburbs and in other large towns. They sometimes appear in large numbers and cause much damage, in their beautiful caterpillar stage, to fruit and forest trees and even roses. Amongst the favourite food plants may be mentioned the apple, pear, plum, damson, roses, hawthorn, sloe, and even the fir. Buckler (5) records the Acacia dealbata also as a food plant. In some years it has been found on elm and lime, and I have found it on the walnut. Some seasons it appears in large numbers in the London parks, and records have been sent of the great damage caused by it in the north of England to hawthorn hedges. Carpenter (6) records it on apple from County Leitrim on trees imported from France. Insects Injurious to the Apple. 39 [a i ea! sl ® 7 The female is quite wingless, but the moth belongs to quite a distinet family from the Geometride or Loopers. Réaumur (1) gave an excellent description of this insect. It is widespread over Europe. . [h. Bdeuden, PIG, 26.—THE VAPOURBR MOTH (Orygia antigua. Linn.). A, female; B, male; C, empty pupa skin; D, cocoon; E, larval skin. Taschenberg (2) refers to its damage in Germany. Ormerod (3) mentions that its attack is known in orchard-houses as well as out of \Ara i ‘ aypyyi lore r yf 14 “ Ps Ms doors. The caterpillars devour the foliage, and being very ravenous, if present in large numbers, do a very great amount of harm. Liure-Hisrory anp Hapirs. The male (Fig. 268) has four ample wings, which expand from 1 inch to 12 inch; the colour is rich chestnut-brown with a white spot on each fore wing, on the inner border; there are also darker transverse lines across the fore wings, and the antennie are plumose. The female (Fig. 26-4) is grey, paler below, very plunp, and practically wingless, the organs of flight being reduced, like the Winter Moth, to mere blunt pro- cesses. The adults occur from early July to the end of September; the majority in August in the south of England. The e (F. E. male flies by day, especially oll bright OVA OF VAPOURER MOTH. i ra ay 5 (Natural size.) sunny days, and with a rapid flight. The : female is sedentary, remaining on the cocoon from which she emerged. After being fertilised by the male she lays her eggs in a close single- layered mass on the outside of the cocoon and dies. These ova (shown 40 Insect Pests. at Figs. 27 and 28) remain on the cocoons all the winter. In form the eggs are round, with a rim near the top where there is a central depression. Their colour varies from reddish-brown to reddish- erey. These cocoons (Fig. 26 D) are found on the twigs, stems, etc., of the trees, on fences, etc., near by, and are quite conspicuous objects when covered with the ova (Fig. 27). They may commence to hatch out as early as the end of April, but such is unusual; more usually they hatch in June, and each batch of eggs hatches out irrecularly. According to New- man (4), they come out a few at a time over a period of ten weeks. Buckler (5) meutions that FIG, 28.—EGGS OF VAPOURER MOTH. sae Ss began hatching a (x 10.) the l4th of May, and the larvee continued to hatch out about two a day, sumetimes three, until the 29th of May when there were “twenty-one hatched and I cast adrift the remaining eggs.” The caterpillars reach about 14 inch when mature; they are dark grevish, spotted with red, with four large dense tufts of creamy yellow, almost white or brownish hairs on the back, like four brushes, and with a long tuft of dark hairs pointing forwards on each side of the head, another pair on the fifth segment, and a single group on the tail end, these hairs all ending in fine pin- like heads. They are full grown from August to September; although many usually occur together they feed separately on the leaves. When full fed they spin cocoons of pale silk mixed with hairs from (H. Tonge. [le EB. FIG. 20.—CATERPILLAR OF VAPOURER MOTH. their tufts and change to brown pupe with numerous pale hairs. This stage lasts from two to three weeks. Insects Injurious to the Apple. 4] PREVENTION AND REMEDIES. The egg-masses on the cocoons, which are very noticeable in winter, should be collected and destroyed; where they occur in very large numbers they may be burnt off the trees with a paraffin torch to save time. Systematic collection of the egg-masses should always take place after an attack. The caterpillars are easily destroyed by spraying with arsenate of lead. Weak emulsions have also some effect on them. REFERENCES. (1) Réawmur, R. A. F. de. ‘Histoire des Insectes,’ I., p. 34 (1734-1742). (2) Taschenberg, H. L. ‘Praktische Insekten-kunde,’ IIL., p. 96 (1880). (3) Ormerod, E. A. ‘Handbook of Insects Injurious to Orchard and Bush Fruits,’ p. 138 (1898). (4) Newman, E. ‘An Illustrated Natural History of British Moths,’ p. 40 (1869). (5) Buckler, W. ‘The Larve of British Butterflies and Moths,’ vol. III, p. 11 (1889). ‘ (6) Carpenter, G. H. Economic Proceedings of the Royal Dublin Society, I., pt. 6, p. 289 (1905). THE GREY TRIDENT MOTH. (Acronycta pst. Linn.) This insect was received with a note that it was found attacking apple and plum foliage in a garden at Liverpool in August and September in 1906. It does not appear to have been recorded as feeding on fruit trees before. But in 1907 several inquiries regarding it were received from various parts of Britain. Stainton (‘Manual Brit. Butts. and Moths, Vol. L., p. 180, 1857) says of the larvae: “on various plants.” The same is also given by Wood in his ‘ British Moths’ (Vol. IL, p. 71, 1872). The moth measures 14 inch across the expanded wings; the fore wings are pale grey, varied with darker marks, including one long black line from nearly the middle to the base of the wings, with several short branches arising from it; amongst the other marks is one something like an X, about the middle, just below the costa, and one shaped like the Greek w at the anal angle. This moth exactly resembles the common Trident (Acronyeta tridens), but is slightly larger. It is also known as the Common Dagger Moth. It is found resting on tree trunks in and around woods, gardens and lanes 42 Insect Pests. during the day. They are also found settled on stone walls in the north of England. It is widely distributed in Britain, and in some districts is very common. The adult occurs in May, June, July and August, and lays her eges on all manner of plants, shrubs and trees. The caterpillar which is found in August, September and October is dull, ereyish- {4. VW. D. Rintoul, FIG, 30.—GREY TRIDENT MOTH (Acronycta psi). black, with a broad, pale yellow line along the back, a large black prominence on the fifth segment, and a short black one on the twelfth. The pupa is found in a dirty grey to brown cocoon, spun in crevices of the trees, or amongst moss on the evound, or on old trees. It is not surprising to have them recorded from apple and plum or any other fruit trees, as it is well known the larve are polyphagous. TREATMENT, Arsenical washing will kill them where they occur in sufficient numbers to be dealt with. THE GOAT MOTH. (Cossus ligniperda, Fab.) The Goat Moth is one of the largest of British moths, and although really very common is seldom seen in its mature state. Fie. 31. THE GOaT MOTH (Cossus ligniperda) AND LARVA; ALSO MOTH ESCAPING FROM PUPA. (Lo face p. 42. Insects Injurious to the Apple. 43 This is because the dull colours of the moth resemble so closely the bark of the trees upon which they rest. Although the moth is not frequently seen, nevertherless in its caterpillar state it is a common and well-known object; whilst the damage the larve do is so very marked that there are few people who cannot recognise the ravages of this pest. The Goat Moth (Cossus ligniperda) is found in most wooded parts of Great Britain, and is especially common in and around towns, where ornamental and park trees are frequently ruined by them. I have ‘seen great numbers of trees killed in and around London, whilst in the suburbs the damage is still more frequent. Similarly in France, especially around Paris, considerable damage is done by them; the elms in the Bois de Boulogne have suffered severely. It is also a pest in Germany and other parts of Europe. In Great Britain it is perhaps most abundant in the south and east, but its attacks are frequent even up to the extreme north of Scotland. The damage is done to the trees by the caterpillars eating tunnels and galleries into the very heart of the trunks, They do not pick out unhealthy trees only, perfectly sound ones often being invaded. As as rule, when once a tree is “struck,” unless remedial measures are employed, it will be killed sooner or later, according to the number of these pests attacking it. Not infrequently reports are sent from orchardists as to their damaging apple and pear trees, and I have seen them once attacking the walnut (1). The damage done in orchards is, however, unusual. It has been recorded as attacking apple and pear in France, and in Germany Taschenberg (2) records that two hundred and sixty- six larve were taken from one pear tree. The number found in a iree varies from one or more up to the number recorded above by Taschenberg. Generally, not more than twenty or thirty are found in a forest tree of the largest size in this country, and but few, as a rule, in fruit trees. The wood eventually becomes completely honey- combed, and it is not until the tree is really dead that they stop their work. The caterpillars, if not mature, leave the dead tree and crawl to a neighbouring one, or may even feed on roots in the ground. Their presence can be told, when in small numbers, by the holes in the trunk, often as big round as a man’s finger; later, boughs begin to die and break off during gales, even when they are still sufficiently healthy to have foliage upon them. Ina few years the damage becomes more noticeable, both in regards to decaying and 44 Insect Pests. dead boughs, and especially in the trunk, which becomes perforated with innumerable holes up to about eight feet from the ground. They cause the death of a tree much more rapidly than is generally supposed. An ash which I kept under observation (3) was first attacked in 1891; the tree was left alone, and for eight years struggled on, not only not growing but gradually decaying, until it put out a few stunted leaves as a dying effort, and by 1903 it was quite dead. This tree was thirty-six feet high and four feet in circumference six feet from the ground. It is only old apple and pear trees that are attacked, especially old cider and perry fruits. Lire-History anp Hapirs. The Goat Moth (Figs. 31 and 32) varies to some extent in size, the female being from 3 to 3$ inches in expanse of wings, the male from 22 to 3. In build it is stout and clumsy; the head clothed with dense grey hairs; the thorax greyish-brown ; the large, hairy abdo- men has darker trans- verse bands, and the apical borders of the segments are grey ; the broad fore wings dark grey and brown, with dusky transverse streaks; the hind wings ashy-grey to greyish- brown, with some in- distinct brown marks, and the antennwe are fringed with grey in Ld. TD. Rintout. hoth sexes. It occurs FIG, 32.—FEMALE AND ALS E GUAT MOTH (Cossus ligniperda), during June and July, (Slightly reduced.) a ‘ : i : and flies at dusk, but is very inactive, usually depositing its egos on the trees from which they hatch. The female has a horny extensile ovipositor, by means of which she places her eges far in crevices, ete., of the hark of the trees. It is said that one female may lay as many as a thousand eges (Kollar (4) ). Three females kept under observation each deposited between two and three hundred. They were laid in Insects Injurious to the Apple. 45 groups varying from fifteen to fifty. The eggs are laid mainly at night and are brown in colour, round, convex above, flattened below and ribbed. In ten days the larve hatch out and at once burrow under the bark and soon into the wood. The young caterpillar is pink all over, but when mature is dirty, deep ochre-vellow with a broad stripe of rich mahogany-red down the back; the head is deep blackish-brown, and there are two deep brown spots on the first segment; the legs are brown, and the forelegs yellow with brown hooks. When full grown the larve reach from 3 to 334 inches in length (Fig. 31). They feed on the trees for three years, tunnelling into the wood most of that time. Now and then they leave the trees and wander about; some never return. Numbers of cases have been reported of these larvee being found in the earth devouring and burrowing into the roots of plants, such as dahlias (3). Normally, in the spring of the third year the larva comes to the entrance of the tunnel and close to it forms a cocoon lined with silk and coated outside with wood chips. Pupation takes place as a rule in May. The pupa is rich brown with rings of sharp spines on the abdominal segments. The moth emerges in three or four weeks after pupation. Previous to the emergence the pupa forces its way out of the cocoon and partly out of the opening in the tree; the empty pupa skins may frequently be seen in that position. When kept under unnatural conditions the caterpillars have taken four years to mature. : PREVENTION AND REMEDIES. Trees in close proximity to others that are attacked may be protected by thickly smearing the trunks over in May with a mixture of clay, lime and soft soap. This should be made into a thick paint and smeared all over the trunk up to eight feet and a thick layer put around the base and the ground. Clay and cow-dung has been found to answer the purpose, but is not nearly as good as the former mixture. This will prevent the eggs being deposited on the trunk and roots where exposed. It is quite useless to scrub the bark, as suggested by Miss Ormerod, for the eggs are laid deep in crevices and would not be reached in the majority of cases, neither can many be rubbed off, as suggested. or killing the larve in the trees, the best plan is to place lumps of stick cyanide in each hole and smear the whole trunk over with clay, the entrances to the holes being firmly plugged up with the same. Paraffin emulsion squirted into the holes is said to be a good remedy, but where the tunnels are very long and tortuous it is very doubtful if many are killed by it. Sulphur and tobacco fumes blown 46 Insect Pests. in by means of bee bellows have also produced good results, but no plan is as successful as the cyanide treatment and stopping up the holes with clay. A correspondent writes that he has saved some valuable trees by injecting about 2 c.c. of carbon bisulphide into the tunnel and closing the hole with wet clay. This almost invariably killed the caterpillars. All dead trees should be burnt at once when possible before the caterpillars escape. NATURAL ENEMIES. Bats, Goat-suckers, and Owls eat the moths. The Green and the Large Spotted Woodpeckers devour the caterpillars and pupe. The Tits or Paride devour the eggs, according to Taschenberg (1). Probably the Tree Creeper, Wryneck, and Nuthatch do the same. The pup are sometimes infested with Ichneumon fly larve. REFERENCES. (1) Theobald, F. V. The Animal Pests of Forest Trees, pp. 6-9. Journal S. E. Agri. Coll., No. 18, p. 159 (1904). 2) Taschenberg, E. L. ‘ Praktische Insekten-kunde,’ Dritter Theil, p. 24 (1880). (8) Theobald, F. V. Second Report on Economie Zoology (Brit. Mus. N.H.), pp. 77-84 (1904). (4) Whitehead, Sir C. ‘Insects Injurious to Fruit Crops,’ p. 40 (1886). (5) Ormerod, E. A. ‘Handbook of Insects Injurious to Orchard and Bush Fruits,’ p. 18 (1898). THE WOOD LEOPARD MOTH. (Zeusera pyrina, Linn.) This large moth has long been known as a borer into the trunks of various trees in this country and all over Europe. It is generally supposed to be partial to the chestnut, hence its old name, aseult. Kollar (1) says in reference to this as follows: “Choosing that tree (chestnut) for its abode less frequently in the neighbourhood of Vienna than any of the other trees that serve it for food, living chiefly in elms, walnut, pear and apple trees.” It is certainly often found in the chestnut in our country, but is not noticed to the same extent that it is in fruit plantations. Like many noxious insects it has spread abroad, and we learn of its occurrence in the United States, attacking and destroying elms and maples (2). Its chief damage is to the small branches of the cherry, but it Insects Injurious to the Apple. 47 has been sent ime from apple and plum both from the south and Midlands of England. Whitehead (6) says that pear trees are its special favourites, and he also records as many as seventy-six larvie being taken from one tree in Herefordshire in 1879, In 1s84 several were found by me in a young walnut tree the tree having been killed by the tunnelling into it near ? the ground, and other instances of their destructive habits in the walnut have also been brought to my notice (3). It has been decidedly on the increase in apple trees this last few years, henee is included in this section. Lirk-History anp Haprrs. Dunng June and July we find that this lepidopteron, which belongs to the Coccidee, makes its advent in the winged or perfect state, when they may be seen at rest upon tree trunks near the ground. The perfect insect is about 2 inches in-ex- panse of wings; white, some- times almost transparent white, with isolated spots of steel-blue colour, the nervures terminating in patches of the same colour. The head covered with white downy hair; antenme black. Thorax white, with two rows of three metallic-blue spots; abdo- mien deep bluish-black, covered at the edges of the seements with te ree Seen A : Wood LEOPARD MOTH AND TUNNELLED Woop. a white hairy down. The female FO nce natal anaes is sinular to the male, only larger, and armed with an extensile ovipositor, The eges, which ave dark yellow or orange-yellow, are laid deep in the bark of the tree during June, July and August; they take from two to three weeks to deve- lop. Whitehead (6) says they hatch in a few days after oviposition. 48 Insect Pests. (4. VW. D. Rintoul. FIG. 34. MALE AND FEMALE WOOD LEOPARD MOTH (Zeuzera pyrind). LP. EB. LF. EB. JARVA OF WOOD LEOPARD FIG. 86. —EXTERNAL SIGNS OF MOTH IN APPLE BRANCH. WoOD LEOPARD MOTH ATTACK. Insects Injurious to the Apple. 49 The larva is yellowish-white; on each segment are small black processes, from each of which springs a short black bristle. The head is brown, with two black spots, and is retracted into the first segment, which is shining black and broad. The larve work right into the wood, and eat away the hardest parts, forming tunnels of some length. When full grown, which is in about ten months after their advent from the egg, they reach as much as 2 inches in length, but shorten very much prior to casting their skin for the pupal change. Each larva spins a silken cocoon, mixed with particles of wood, beneath the bark, in which it changes to a bright brown pupa. REMEDIES. When only a few of the larvee are present, it is possible to get rid of them by suffocating them by various vapours. An ordinary pair of “bee bellows” filled with touchwood and sulphur alight will blow or force the fumes into the hole. The fumes ascend and reach the larve even if they are some distance up the trunk. Bisulphide of carbon fumes I found also successful in destroying the caterpillars. In all cases it is most essential to plug up the eutrance hole with wax or wood so as to stop further insect attack and wet from entering, which soon leads to the rapid decay of the tree. But frequently we are unable to detect any hole; all that is seen is that the branch of the cherry, pear, plum or apple tree is dying. It is then best to cut the branch right back until sound wood is reached, and slit up the branch until the larva is found, and then kill it to prevent further damage. REFERENCES. (1) Kollar, Vincent. ‘ Insects Injurious to Gardeners, Foresters and Farmers.” (Eaog. Trans., 1840.) (2) Lintner, A. J. ‘Ninth Report on Injurious Insects of the State of New York,’ p. 426 (1893). (3) Theobald, F. V. Report upon Insect Pests in 1894, with especial reference to Insects attacking the Walnut (1895). (4) Theobald, F. V. ‘The Animal Pests of Forest Trees,’ p. 27 (1904), and Journal 8. E. Agri. Coll., No. 18, p. 180 (1904). (5) Ormerod, E. A. ‘Handbook of the Insects Injurious to Orchard and Bush Fruits’ (1898). (6) Whitehead, Sir C. ‘Report on Insects Injurious to Fruit Crops,’ p. 44 (1886). Agricultural Department. Privy Council Office. 50 Insect Pests. THE WINTER MOTH. (Cheimatobia brumata. Linn.) Of all fruit-tree pests this is one of the most harmful and wide- spread, but fortunately, owing to its habits, we can not only keep down its numbers, but can even exterminate it in our orchards by well-tried methods. It is needless to caution growers to take with care any such statements, as have been made, that washes will kill the eggs of this moth. The Winter Moth takes its name from the fact that it appears late in the year. It is also called the Evesham Moth, on account of its having been noticed in numbers in that neighbourhood, but it occurs no more so there than in any other part of Britain. The food plants are very varied; most forest trees except conifers are attacked, oaks often being defoliated by them. Of fruit, it is found most on apple and plum, but it occurs also on pear, peach, currants aud gooseberries, and now and again on raspberries, walnut, roses and other flowers. The caterpillars are known as “ Loopers” or “ Measurers,” on account of their means of progress, which is by a series of loops; the larva figured on page 53 is in an intermediate position. The family which contains this pest is known as the Geometridae. So great in numbers do these “ Loopers” become that they often quite defoliate the trees (Fig. 44), and later are known to attack the fruit, eating holes in the sides (Figs. 39 and 40). When young they also damage the blossoms and even buds. One of the worst attacks was in 1868 and 1869 in the apple and pear orchards of Herefordshire and Worcestershire. In 1907 an enormous amount of harm was done in parts of Kent and in a few cases in Worcestershire. In the Sittingbourne and Faversham areas in the former county the trees looked in summer as if it were winter. Mr. Gardener of Ombersley complained loudly of the harm they were doing to his plums, and found they were spreading below on to the gooseberries. This habit has been recorded by Ormerod (2) from Kidderminster and also from Gloucestershire, where they passed on to currants beneath the plums. So widespread is the attack of this pest that it is not necessary to refer to any further specific cases. Carpenter (1) records the attack of this insect in Ireland in County Fermanagh. Fortunately, what we already know of its life-history goes a long Insects Injurious to the Apple. 51 way to place this enemy under our control. The only unfortunate thing is that the Winter Moth also feeds upon various hedgerow and forest trees, and thus we are always liable to invasion if our planta- tions and gardens ave approximated to woods, spinuneys, and ill- kept hedgerows. — Neverthe- 4 less, owing to the pecu- liar structural characters of the female, the damage from this source is much Sees lessened. : Lire-Htstory ANp Habits. [FL Hdenden, The male Winter Aas , " - FIG. 57,—FEMALES AND MALES OF THE WINTER MOTH Moth is a fully-winged (Cheimatobia brimmat). insect, although its flight is not powertul. In size it is about 14 inch from tip to tip of the expanded wings. There is not much variation in size in the males, but in the female this is the reverse, as is seen in the accom- panying photograph (Fig. 37). The colour of the fore wings varies between greyish-hrown and brown; some few may show an ochreous tinge, marked with several transverse darker wavy lines varying in distinctness in different specimens; the hind wings are of a paler uniform colour. The female is greyish to ereyish-brown in colour, and differs totally from the male, having the merest traces of wines, which are totally useless as organs of flight; these remnants of wings sometimes show ornamentations, the fore pai having two darker transverse streaks, the hind pair rarely a trace of a single one. There is some variation in size of these wing remnants, but none have been seen iv.k. larger than those represented in the photo- FIG. 38.—TWo ovA oF THE ~— graph, Miss Ormerod, however, gives a figure ees of them (2, p. 157) about two-thirds the length of the body, which must be very unusual, judging from the thousands examined. The males have been observed for many years to appear some days before the females. They may be seen at dusk, flying lazily Eu 52 Insect Pests. along hedgerows and in the orchards and gardens. They are attracted by light. One often sees them collected on street lamps, and they (cee LF. BE. FIG. 39.—APPLE FRUITLET FKATEN BY WINTER MOTH. occur outside windows. This is a habit we may well bear in mind, for it is possible that we might trap them in very large numbers by light, and thus prevent the fertilisation of the females, The females crawl out of the soil from their cocoons and earthen cases. Nature directs them by one of her marvellous ways to the tree trunk, and this they ascend to deposit their eggs. Some, however, have been found in grass orchards crawling up the herbage, and it appears beyond doubt that some of these are carried by the males in copult. The number, however, is comparatively few. The dates of appearance of the Winter Moth vary to such an extent that one can only give here very wide limits. The earliest date I have record of is the Ist of October, 1896, and the latest the 12th of January, 1905. This was on walnuts at Kingston-on-Thames. Their appearance on this tree is always later than on apple or plum. In some places they appear at one time, in others at another. instance, during 1907 they were re- ported by Mr. Mercer of Rodmersham as covering the grease bands in Novem- ber, whilst at Wye they were at the “swarming period” on the 17th of December. Six years ago the swarming period at the latter place was the 2nd of November. It is quite impossible to say when they will hatch out. The lunits, for practical purposes, may be included between the 1st of October and the 15th of January. Frequently we have a few females strageling up some weeks before and some weeks after the main hatching. This again we must bear in mind, for a single female may deposit as many as 350 ova, enough, if they all hatched out, to defoliate a tree. The females mainly seem to be ferti- For FIG, 40,—CHERRIES EATEN BY WINTER MOTH LARV.E. lised during their ascent, but have been found zn copula on the shoots. Whether the latter had been carried up by the male or not is unknown. Insects Injurious to the Apple. a The ova (Fig. 38) are very marked. At first they are pale yellowish- green, later they become brick-dust red. They are slightly cloneate, truncated at each end and have a dis- tinctly sculptured shell. The position in which they are laid varies, some are placed around buds, some are around the inside of pruned surfaces, others in crevices in the twigs and smaller boughs. Frequently they are well protected by the natural hairs of the shoots, mosses, lichens, ete. The shell is thick and is quite unlikely to be affected by any chemical that would not seriously harm the trees, if not kill them. The period of hatching varies each year and in different localities. The small caterpillars usually hatch before the buds burst and at once {Hdenden, FIG. 4L.—LOOPER CATERPILLAR OF WINTER MOTH, commence to attack the young foliage as it ope ns. The ininute “ Loopers ” are at first dark in colour and very difficult to detect unless they are moving. At first they feed freely on the small leaves. As they grow they become ereen with pale lines alone their bodies, some yellowish - green, others dark ereen with the pale lines more prominent. The colour of the head also varies at different stages. When mature they reach 11 inch to rather more in leneth, when fully expanded. The exact Ser on length must not be taken FIG. 42. into account however, as APPLE LEAF EATEN BY TWO YOUNG WINTER MOTH LARV-E. they vary so much ac- (Seen on the leaf.) : cording to their degree of extension. They are always much fatter than those of the March Moth, which is the only one they are likely to be confused with. 54 Insect Pests. The habits of the Winter Moth larve are varied. At first, as explained, they feed on the opening leaf buds; later they get into the blossom trusses and spin them together and also the leaves, living under the shelter they form. Before reaching maturity they feed freely on A 5 5 the foliage again, and are known to : attack the fruit, especially cherries. Damage to fruit has been very notice- able when they invade cooseberries t growing under apples or plums. By the middle of June the cater- (M Edenden. — nillars are mostly mature and they ee all eo Pheseronnd= ap least we WINTER MOTH. . suppose so, for no one seems to have observed them do otherwise. They all reach the ground in some way, and the majority enter the soil to the depth of two or three inches. Having pressed out a small cavity in the earth they spin an oval case of silk, which becomes covered externally with particles of earth. In this silken and earthen case the ‘ Looper” larva, having UW. 1. amimond. FIG, 44.—APPLE TREES DEFOLIATED BY WINTER MOTH LARV_E, contracted considerably, casts its skin and becomes a brown pupa. This hatches into the male or female from October to early January, an the adult forces its way out of the soil. If in grass orehards it Insects Injurious to the Apple. 55 is not unusual to find the cocoon (devoid, of course, of any earth) amongst grass and other herbage. The depth at which pupation takes place in the soil is very variable. If the soil is rough and cloddy they frequently pupate under a clod: if firm and compact they enter the soil to a depth of two inches. All those kept in confinement pupated from one to three inches, never deeper, and very few more than two inches below the surface. PREVENTION AND REMEI TES, The prevention of this and the allied pests, the Mottled Umber Moth and the March Moth, is an easy matter. The process, namely, grease-banding, is well known to all fruit-growers and is firmly believed in and carried out by very many. . It must be borne in mind, however, that it is only these wineless females which are caught; grease-banding has no effect on such pests as the Lackey Moth, Figure-of-8 Moth, Gold and Brown Tail Moths, Tortrix Moths or the Little Ermine, which have winged females. ut where the Winter Moth and its allies are the culprits then grease-banding is far better than relying on spraying. The bands should be made as follows :—First tie on the tree a band of good stout grease-proof paper, so that nothing can crawl beneath it, then smear this over with sticky grease. There are several kinds on the market, and the grower will find out which have the most permanent sticky qualities. The position of the bands adopted by growers varies. Some apply them high up the trunks, others low down. In the former case the reason given is that stock rubs off the grease. It may be pointed out that when the bands are placed high up, many eees have been detected laid on the trunks. In due course these will hatch out and the larvee may ascend to the boughs. It is best, therefore, to apply the bands low down, about 1 foot from the surface, in grass orchards, where mud spattering does not interfere with the grease. In bush plantations this can be done, and it has been found that when placed so low down in grass orchards that sheep do little harm to the grease. Where the ground is cultivated, however, it is sometimes found that if the bands are placed lower than 2 feet that they get covered in mud, In young trees it is necessary to band the stakes as well, for the females will crawl up these as readily as the stem. For the Winter Moth the banding should be in working order by the 1st of October and should be kept going until the second week in January. It is of no use to grease the bands once and then leave 56 Insect Pests. them. During the past year the writer visited a plantation in December in which the bands were all dry, a few days later the females were appearing in numbers, and thus, for saving a small additional expense, all that had been spent in banding the trees was wvasted. Moreover, the bands frequently become so smothered with snsects that others can readily pass over their dead hodies. It is not {[F. Edenden. FIG. 45.—A GREASE-BANDED APPLE TREE, (The band here is placed far too high.) only female Winter Moths that are caught, but the winged males in large numbers and these aid very materially in covering the bands. J uct RG Aan (Maal nah LAPS ie . Numbers of the Winter Gnats (Zrichocera reyelutionis) also get caught and many midges and other flies, all tending to smother the grease and so make a bridge for later hatched moths to cross. These covered bands should be cleared and smeared again. The numbers of females caught on each band is frequently very 7 oO Insects Injurious to the Apple. large. My. Clive Murdock writes from Linton that many of the bands contain one hundred females; Myr. Mercer of Rodmersham that some three hundred were found on one band, Still greater LARGE ORCHARD USK, 46, FIG, +f TEN STRAM SPRAYING APPARATUS (MERRYWEATHER’S) FOR Tai numbers have been found by the writer on bands sent him from various parts of the country. Mr. Ballard, manager of the Eardiston Farming Company, near Tenbury, who follows this banding year by year, places a layer of cement around the large cider trees to receive the grease. This plan seems to work very well and does not seem to harm old, rough and 58 Insect Pests. large trees, where ordinary banding would be very troublesome. In the Evesham district of Worcestershire the practice seems to be to smear the grease directly on the tree. This plan is most injurious and very slovenly. Trees so treated were noticed to have the bark unhealthy. : Spraying fur Winter Moth is often necessary where banding has been badly carried out or where it has not been practised. For these caterpillars Paris green was once largely used, but owing to its frequently scorching the leaves many growers did not continue its use. Arsenate of lead is by far the best substance to use for this pest. The two formule are given iu the appendix, but since we can now obtain this poison made up as Swift’s Arsenate of Lead Paste we had better employ this, as errors in mixing make this wash harmful, but never as bad as Paris green. The arsenate of lead should be put on as a fine spray as soon as the leaves commence to show. The young caterpillars are then killed before they have done any damage. A second spraying is often necessary in the case of apples and pears; this should not be later than ten days after the blossom has fallen; at this time any remaining Winter Moth, Mottled Umber and March Moth larve are poisoned, and also the Codling Moth prevented, and many other leaf- eating forms at the same time are destroyed. The employment of poultry in a plantation is certainly very beneticial in regards to checking Winter Moth, and some growers have found pigs of equal benefit. It is not at all unusual to see the latter in Kent orchards. Spraying with winter washes is quite useless for preventing this pest. REFERENCES. (1) Carpenter, G. H. Injurious Insects and Other Animals observed in Ireland during 1905. Eco. Proc. Roy. Dub. Soc. I., pt. 8, p. 329 (1906). (2) Ormerod, E. A. ‘Handbook of Insects Injurious to Orchard and Bush Fruits,’ p. 158 (1898). THE MOTTLED UMBER MOTH. (Hybernia defoliaria, Linn.) The caterpillars of this moth work in a similar way to those of the Winter Moth, but they more frequently attack the fruit. Mr. W Bear forwarded some small apples from Hailsham in 1900, which Insects Injurious to the Apple. 59 had been enawed by these larvee. In 1902 specimens of similar damage were received from Yorkshire and from a gardener in Nottinghamshire. The damage to foliage is, however, of greatest importance. Although generally distributed the Mottled Umber Moth is not nearly so harmn- ful as the Winter Moth. Neverthe- less great damage is now and then done by it to fruit trees, especially those situated near oak woods, etc. Ma. Paget - Norbury of Malvern Links has several times written complaining of this insect, which was particularly abundant on his trees near some oaks and some of which had been badly damaged, especially in 1905 and 1906. It has also been sent me with notes of FIG, (EB. Tonge, 47.—MALES AND FEMALE OF THE MOTTLED UMBER MOTH. its destructive habits from many places in Kent, from other parts of Worcestershire, Herefordshire, Staffordshire, Huntinedoushire, Cam- bridgeshire and South Devon. In the latter county Major Vigors sent it from Whimple where it was doing damage to peaches. FIG. 48.—OVA OF MOTTLED UMBER MOTH. (x 20.) [B. Tonge. The food plants are just as varied as those of the former species. Amonest orchard fruit may be mentioned besides apple, plum, cherry, pear, and cob and filbert nuts. Cherry growers 1 Kent have often com- plained of its gnawing away the fruitlets, eating out round holes down to the stone, just as the Winter Moth does. Specimens of this damage were also sent by the Fruit 60 Insect Pests. Growers’ Association in 1907, but no locality was mentioned. Of wall fruit, both peach and apricot are attacked occasionally ; various (F. Edenden. FIG. 49.—MELANIC MALE AND FEMALE MOTTLED UMBER MOTH. forest trees, such as oak, beech, lime, elm, birch and in hedgerows, the whitethorn, blackthorn and privet. Owing to its larger size, when it appears in numbers it may do more harm than the Winter Moth. Lirr-Hisrory Anp Hasits. The male moth varies from a little under to a little over 12 inch in wing expanse. The front wings are normally a pale dull yellowish, mottled with yellowish - brown and dusted with brown; there are two more or less prominent dark lines, the first bent in an angle, the second bent in three angles and often followed by a darker hue, and there is a central dark spot on each win ¢; the hind wings are of a more uniform yellowish-grey, with minute darker specks and a dark spot on each. The colour is, however, very variable, some specimens being dark rusty-brown all over, owing (i. D. Rint, to the thick dusting of dark FIG, 50. -LARV.E OF MOTTLED UMBER MOTH. colour, such as is seen in Fig. 49. The female is quite wingless and plump, much larger than the female Winter Moth, of various shades of yellowish-grey, and is much speckled with dark brown or black. Miss Ormerod (1) describes Insects Injurious to the Apple. 61 and figures the female with two black spots on each segment, but these do not show so clearly in any females I have noticed. The moths appear from the end of October onwards until the beginning of February. The females crawl up the tree trunks, just in the same way as the Winter Moths. The ova are deposited on the buds and twigs, in bark crevices and on pruned surfaces. The caterpillars hatch out later than those of the Winter Moth, usually in April. They are readily told from the Winter Moth by their colour; the back is chestnut-brown, and the sides a pale creamy-yellow to bricht yellow, the venter pale yellow to pale greenish-yellow, and the spiracles pale with dark rims. Their means of progression is just like that of the former species. When mature they reach 14 inch in leneth. They have been sent by various correspondents as late as July, but most reach maturity at the end of June, they then fall to the ground and pupate in the soil. PREVENTION AND TREATMENT. The remarks made concerning the Winter Moth apply here. REFERENCE. (1) Ormerod, EH. A. ‘Handbook of Insects Injurious to Orchard and Bush Fruits,’ p. 179 (1898). THE MARCH MOTH. (Anisopterya wscularia, Schill.) This is another member of the wingless female group. Although not so generally reported as a nuisance, it now and again does considerable harm to the apple, and has also been sent by corre- spondents from Surrey on the plum and pear. Its normal food plants are the whitethorn and blackthorn ; it also infests the oak, lime, elm, maple and walnut, and a few may be taken on the Spanish chestnut. It occurs over a wide area from |. Scotland downwards, and has been reported as a fruit pest from Here- fordshire, Yorkshire, Sussex, Kent and Middlesex. I have also seen fa aden it in abundance on plums in qye, 51.—aAne aNp FEMALE MARCH MOTE. 62 Insect Pests. (PF. Edenden. FIG. 52.—FEMALE MARCH MOTH, (Anisopteryx cescularia, Schiff.) (Greatly enlarged to show side view of tail tuft.) woods, and alone hedgerows. Cambridgeshire and in Yorkshire. The popular name is derived from the date of its appearance, Specimens may, however, be taken as early as mid February and as late as mid April, a few strag- glers going on until the end of the month. Lirk-Hisrory Anp Hasirs. The male moth flies at dusk and may be found in gardens, — orchards, The colour of the fore wings is ereyish-brown, with dark and pale wavy lines running across, as seen in the photograph (Fig. 51), and there is a small dark brown spot near the upper border of each wing ; the wing expanse varies from 1} to 1} inch; the hind wings are pale erey, with a darker line more or less continued from the outer hne on each fore wing. The female is greyish to greyish- brown and quite wingless, and has a very pronounced fan-like tail of hurs. She crawls up the tree trunks, just as the two preceding do. The evgs are laid in a partial band, vary- ing in size from { to nearly $ inch across, they are deposited in more or less parallel rows and are embedded in hairs from the fan-like extension of the tail; the eggs are brieht and shiny, and vary in number in each ring. Ormerod (1) records as many as five hundred in a ring, this appears to be exceptional, some fifty to two hundred being a wide limit. The eggs hatch in April. The CATERPILLAR OF THE MARCH MOTH. Insects Injurious to the Apple. The colour is bright green or green tinged with yellow (the latter 1 have particu- larly noticed when feeding on hawthorn) small larvie soon spread about. and somewhat paler between the seg- the ereen line edged with pale creamy white or grey; on each side are three pale ments; on back is a narrow dark lines, either white or ervey; the head is uniformly green. The general form at once separates it from the Winter Moth larva, it being very slender and uni- formly cylindrical and about 1 inch long when full grown. They mature by the end of June or early in July, then fall to the ground, where they form a cocoon covered with earth very similar FIG, [F. Tonge. FIG, 55,—EGG BAND OF MARCH MOTH. (x 10.) 54.—RGG BAND OF MARCH MOTH, (Twice natural size.) to the Winter Moth: the silk of the cocoon is of a dull yellowish hue and very closely woven together. Porritt. (2) mentions that caterpillars which hatched from eogs on the 3rd of April went to earth the middle of May. Many may he found in June, and [ have taken numbers as late as the 7th of July. PREVENTION AND TREATMENYT, The treatinent is the same as for the pre- Where this moth is prevalent it is well to see that the grease bands are kept ceding. 64 Insect Pests. in working order right into March, especially on plum trees and damsons. REFERENCES. (1) Ormerod, E. A. ‘Handbook of Insects Injurious to Orchard and Bush Fruits,’ p. 178 (1898). i (2) Porritt, G. T. ‘Larve of British Butterflies and Moths,’ vol. VIL., pt. 1, p. 157 (Ray Soc.). THE PEPPER AND SALT MOTH. (Amphidasys betularia. Linn.) Although one can scarcely look upon this insect as a pest, yet its larvee so frequently strip the leaves of the apple and the cherry [F. Edenden. FIG, 56.—FEMALE AND MALE PEPPER AND SALT MOTH (Aimphidasys betularia). im the autumn that it cannot well be passed over, It is owing to its fortunate late appearance that so little harm is done, yet surely some loss of ripening of the wood must result even in late September when all the leaves are eaten off It is much more frequent than is supposed, for two reasons: first, the erower does not much trouble about enemies when the fruit is being or has been gathereds; and, Insects Injurious to the Apple. 65 secondly, the strange mimetic habits of the larva prevent its being seen (Fig. 58), : Specimens with inquiries have been sent me from several places in Yorkshire, from most of the home counties, and twice from Somerset. Lits-Hisrory, Erc. The moth (Fig. 56) belongs ~ UE, Bienden. to the Geometridie, the Looper- DA oe SOF LE ESSA : 2 . : 2 Green variety on rose. caterpillar family. In size it varies from 15 to nearly 2+ inches in wing expanse. The general appearance is seen in the fieure. The ground colowr is dull white, and all four wings are speckled with black, variations occur such as black dots, traces of transverse black lines and a more prominent black central spot. In a few rare cases true melanic forms occur, the insect becoming almost black. They are found in late May and in June and July, in gardens, fruit plantations and woods. The female, which is always larger than the male, places her egos singly on the leaves of apple, cherry, hawthorn, oak, elm, poplar and birch. They now and again hatch in mid June, but the majority hatch in late July and August. The caterpillars grow but slowly ; the late hatched ones I have found as late as the 30th of October, but the majority we notice in Kent in September. The caterpillars when mature reach over 2 inches in length, they are very variable in colour, some are ereen, others yellow, others dark brown. They resemble a stick in (WEL. Hammond. appearance. The colour of all FIG. 58. LARVA OF PEPPER AND SALT MOTH, those I have found on apple and ae Se aa Ca ak cherry has been dark brown, those on hop, called “Hop Cats” in Kent, are always green; in all there r 66 Insect Pests. are two pale, sometimes white. promineuces on the ninth and twelfth segments and traces of pale lines along the body. Later in the year the similarity to the twigs is very marked and even earlier, when the foliage is eaten, as is to be seen in the photo- eraph shown here (Fig. 58). In 1907 I found the larvie at Wye on apple trees as late as the 2nd of November, at which date they and all preceding ones had entered the soil to pupate. TREATMENT. Where they oceur in any numbers it is well to have them either hand-picked or the trees sprayed with arseuate of lead. As a constant feeder on apple and cherry we may expect that some day it may occur in undue numbers and call for definite treatment. THE CLOUDED DRAB MOTH. (Taniocampa cneerta. THutn.) The caterpillar of this moth has been reported by Ma. Getting to. have attacked his apples near Ross. In his note he said: “It is astonishing what holes the caterpillar can eat in the fruit.’ | [F. Edenden, FIG. 59, LARVA OF Tenioeainpa incerta ON APPLE LEAF. Later, Mr. Getting wrote me that he had only found the two- actual caterpillars sent me, but that he had come across a good few suspiciously eaten apples. “The first I sent L found actually eating the apple” (2). This insect has also been sent from Kent, with a note that it was harmful to the foliage of young trees. The normal food plants of the eaterpillars of the Clouded Drab Moth (Pentoeampa tueerte) are sloe, willow and oak. ‘Taschenberg Insects Injurious to the Apple. 67 records it feeding on the elm and lime (1). The moth: is pale leaden arey, with three thin darker, wavy, transverse lines, and a broad dark area between the second and third thin lines; the hind wings are - — (FL Hdenden, FIG. GL—PUPA FIG, 60,—THE CLOUDED DRAB MOTH. OP Tiwiiocautpa (Pieniocampa tieerta.) Theerta, unicolorous, but the veins show up darkly ; the hairy thorax is the same colour as the fore wings, and the broad hairy body is paler than the thorax. In colour, however, there is some variation, for it is not [LBL Bdenden, FIG. 62. APPLE AND LEAF EATEN BY CATERPILLAR OF THE DRAB MOTH (Tieifocainpa ticerte). infrequent to find dull reddish-brown specimens. The wing expanse varies from 14 to 14 inch. Like most of this group, it occurs freely at sallow blossom in the RD, 68 Insect Pests. spring, and may be easily collected at dusk by shaking the blossoms over an open umbrella. They occur on the wing in March and April, and a few straggle on into May. The caterpillar is green, dotted with black, with a dorsal yellowish- green line and two lateral lines of the same colour. They may be found in May, June and just into July, and normally feed on the leaves ; the habit of eating the fruit and occurring on apples appears to be abnormal. When mature they reach 14 inch in length, and then pupate in the soil. They are said to form a loose cocoon of particles of earth, but the one sent by Mr. Getting changed to deep rich brown pupa nakedly in the breeding cage. The moths hatched out in February owing to their having been kept in a warm laboratory. It is also known as Teniocampa instabilis. Esp. This insect is common everywhere in Britain. REFERENCES. (1) Taschenberg, E. L. ‘Praktische Insekten-kunde.’ Die Schmetterlinge. Dritter Theil, p. 137 (1880). (2) Theobald, F. V. Report on Economic Zoology for year ending April 1st, 1907, p. 25 (1907). THE GREEN PUG MOTH. (Chloroclystis rectangulata, Linn.) Although little or nothing has been recorded concerning this insect as an enemy of the apple it is nevertheless very harmful. Carpenter (1) refers to it in Ireland, having noticed it on apple branches sent from County Fermanagh. Mr. Jeffreys of Ashford many years ago pointed out to me the importance of this insect to apple growers, but no direct observations have been made on it, although it occurs in small numbers all over the country. The damage is done by the small caterpillars feeding in the buds and blossoms of the apple and pear. They feed mainly upon the petals of the blossoms, but also gnaw the strigs and even young leaves; now and then one notices some of the blossoms of the trusses spun together by this caterpillar, and the work may casually be attributed to the Winter Moth unless the culprits are carefully examined. It is also known as Lupithecia rectanjuluta, Lire-History anp Hapits. The moth has a wing expanse of about 3 inch, the fore wings are deep green with dark brown and grey bands, and the hind Insects Injurious to the Apple. 69 wings have also a similar greenish tinge. The abdomen is of somewhat similar hue and crested, with two more or less darker spots near the back. It appears in May, June and July. The female places her eggs on the fruit trees and they remain there all the winter, In spring the larve appear and enter the opening buds. The caterpillar is pale yellowish-green with a rusty-red line down the back, the divisions between the segments reddish and a line at the sides of a yellowish-ereen. The dorsal line varies in colour and size; some have it broad, others narrow or almost absent, sometimes it is dark ereen, at others almost purple. These larvie | are most noticeable in April and May eee and are all mature by early June. RSP ante Vera : ¥ : (Chloroelystis reetangiulata). They then fall to the ground and pupate in a cocoon of earth. The pupa is deep red at the tail end, the thorax and wing cases yellow, tinged with olive. TREATMENT. Early spraying arsenate of lead. The same spraying used for Winter Moth should suffice. It may be pointed out that if these caterpillars are in excess grease-banding need not be persisted in. IEFERENCE. (1) Carpenter, G. H. Injurious Insects and Other Animals observed in Ireland during the year 1905. Eco. Proc. Royal Dublin Society, vol. I., pt. 8, p. 831 (1908). THE CODLING MOTH. (Carpocupsa pomoncla, Linn.) Everyone knows a magegoty apple and avoids it unless they can vet no other. Few people, except fruit-growers and gardeners, know anything of the cause, however. The “maggot” is the caterpillar of a small moth, one of the Curpocapsidw, whose larvee live in fruits or seeds. If we turn the Codling Maggot over on its back we shall see that below are legs, these are of two kinds, the first six are horny and pointed, and then in the middle of the body are four pairs which are soft and fleshy “false legs,” and there is another pair behind. Thus the Codling Maggot is a true caterpillar, like that of the Cabbage White Butterfly. It is very important for growers to notice this, as 70 Insect Pests. two other kinds of larve occur in apple, one abundantly in this country, namely, the Apple Sawfly (oplocampa testudinea), and the other the Apple Fruit Fly (Zrypeta pomonella, Walsh), which occurs in America. The former has more legs than the Codling Mageot ; the latter has none. The small Tineid Moth (CArgyresthia conjugella, Zeller) also attacks apples in Europe (vide Bevetning om Skadeinsekter og Plantesyedomme i Land-og Havebruget, 1905. By W. M. Schoyen, pp. 22-23, 1906, Kristiania). The damage the Codling Maggot causes is often very serious. Frequently the crop has been almost ruined, especially in the cider- growing districts of the western counties. Our choicest dessert apples suffer just as much as the cooking and coarser kinds. Years ago it seems to have been well ; known, for in an old Dutch book published in sage 1645 (1) we find an account of it and also a oy 4 shy ma figure. Cato wrote on “Wormy Apples” in hase his treatise on Agriculture, written nearly ee ais ; 200 years Bc. Year by year it has become better known, and year by year it has spread further and further afield, until we now get the Codling Moth in nearly all parts of the world where apples are grown. aetna If we go to the market and examine XLVI Beth ws % a aie 7 nee American, Canadian, Portuguese or Madeira B Year 1838 apples, we find them often badly damaged, and also numbers of the live mageots in the FIG. 64.—S0MB OLD FIGURES : ee . OF HE CODLING MOTH. harrels, ete., they come over in. In this way they have heen spread from country to country. The Codling Moth has several relatives, all of which Jive in seeds or fruit, one we tind in the sweet chestnut (Carpocapsa splendidana), another in beech nuts (Curpocupse yrossunc), another in euphorbia seeds, the so-called “jumping beans,” the movements of the caterpillar within the seed causing the seeds to jump into the air. The appearance of the infested apples is too well known to need description here, but is depicted in the photograph (Fig. 68). Lirg-Hisrory aNp Hanis. The difficulty in observing inseets laying their eggs is always great, and amongst those which fly at twilight and at night almost Lnpossible, at least in their natural state. We shall have to wateh Insects Injurious to the Apple. a very carefully to see the Codhing Moth at this operation. The moth first appears about the time the apple blossom commences to fall, hue in very small numbers. In size it is usually about $ inch across the expanded wines ; the front wings are erey, with numerous darker wavy traus- verse lines and a metallic eve- hke spot at the corner; the hind pair are plain ervey. The male can be told from the female by the former having a distinct short dark line on the under surface of the front | Eek ans: eA as ay » Q . i AYR wings. These moths are ex (WV. ff, Hamonond. tremely pretty creatures when FIG. 65, seen in the lieht, the wings CODLING MOTHS, PUPA AND CoCOON UNDER BARK. having a satiny sheen. When at rest the wings are closed up in rool-like manner over the abdomen. During daylight we find them resting under the leaves and on the trunks of the trees. When in the latter position they are very difficult to detect, especially if the trees are covered with lichens aud moss, owing to the colours of the wines blending with those of fon) the tree. This protective coloration in insects 1s often very marked, much more so than in the insect we are dealing with, and serves to pro- tect them from the prying eyes of birds and other natural enemies. The eggs (2) are placed separately, as a rule, on the sides of the fruit, GREATLY ENLARGED OVUM OF THE CODLING MOTH. but ee and aout sas the leaves. Each ege is w very thin, almost trans- parent round body, resembling a fish scale and shining on the fruit like a drop of dew. If we look at it under a microscope we see it is beautifully sculptured, especially round the edge. So FIG, 66, (The actual size is smaller than a pin’s head.) 72 Insect Pe: (Fr. Hdenden. FIG. 67.—A CODLING MAGGOT IN APPLE. Se transparent is it that we can observe the little caterpillar being formed inside.* Only one egg as a rule is placed on each apple, and as a single female may lay over one hundred egos we see what great harm a small number of these little moths may do in a garden or orchard. As soon as the hittle caterpillar escapes out of its egg-shell it crawls over the apple, and when it comes to the “eye” it has reached the first stage of its journey. During the first week or ten days after the apple blossom bas fallen, the separate parts surrounding the eye (the calyx) remain pointing outwards, but later on close up to some extent over the eye. In either case the small larva can easily enter. At first it feeds upon the tissue of the eye and then commences its passage deep into the pulp of the fruit. Its first objective seems to be the core, and during its tunnelling operations it forces its excrement (called “frass”) out of the small hole of entry at the eye. Thus we can detect a struck apple in its early stages by the wet brown matter oozing from the top. Later on the culprit forms a further tunnel to the exterior, opening as a large round hole at the side, bottom or even summit of the fruit. From this opening * The first full account of the egg was given by Slinger- land. Bull. 142. Cornell University Agricultural Ex- periment Station, U.S.A, fig. 131, Jan. 1898, (W. A. Hammond. FIG, G8.—APPLES ATTACKED BY COPDLING MAGGOT, (Slightly reduced.) Insects Injurious to the Apple. 73 more wet frass is ejected, as long as the maggot remains within the fruit. Some little while after this opening has been formed, the mature stage of the larva is reached. The caterpillar is then about + Inch long, pale pinkish in colour, with a few scattered hairs and brown head. Sometimes the larvie are creamy white, at others a deep pink. This latter colour I have particularly noticed in those coming from abroad, The time has now come for leaving the fruit. This they do in two ways: the majority lower themselves to the ground, if the fruit has not fallen, others crawl outof the apple and down the branches. Those that fall to the eround re- ascend the tree trunks, and make their way under the first shelter they come to. If it is in an old orchard they crawl under the rough bark, or the moss and lichens growing upon the trees; if it is a young orchard, or one kept very clean, they vet under such protection as the sacking used to prevent the string, by which the young trees are held to stakes, from LASSE Tem one: cutting the bark, or FIG, 69.—APPLES ATTACKED BY SCAB FUNGUS. between the forks of the branches. In these sheltered spots the larve spin rough cocoons, often mingled with wood chips when formed under the bark. The silken cocoons are sometimes dusky white, sometimes brown. In these eases the larvee cast their skin in the spring and change to chestnut- brown pup, from which the moths ultimately hatch. As a rule, we have only one generation of Codling Moth during the year, but there may be two. For a long time there has been an Often mistaken for insect damage. (Half natiual size.) 74 Insect Pests. idea that now and again there is a second brood in this country. During 1906 I succeeded, under normal outdoor conditions, in hatching out moths in August, which deposited eggs on apples out of doors, the ova hatching in six days, and the maggots entered the fruit at the base, not the eye. These larvee matured by the 10th of October. Thus we have proof here of a second brood, just as happens in parts of America. During the same year Mr. Getting sent me Codling maggots from Ross, found in the last week in September in Cox’s Orange Pippins. Many of these apples had been fresbly attacked, and Mr. Getting noticed that the entrance hole was either at the side or base of the fruit. In warmer climates than ours there mav be even more than two broods in each season. The larvee that form their cocoons in the autumn remain in the saine condition until spring, when they change to pupe a few weeks before the moths emerge. But when they spin early in the year and are voing to give rise to a second generation, they pupate a few days after the cocoons are completed. Slingerland (2) gives the life of the caterpillar as varying from twenty to thirty days. They take longer to mature with us, some under observation took fifty days. Ormerod (5) states that they take four weeks. NAtuRAL ENEMIES. It is during the winter that the numbers of this pest are reduced by natural agencies. The Tits, especially the Blue and the Great Tit, devour the larve, wrenching them out of the cocoons after breaking off the sheltering bark beneath which they are hidden. There are not nearly enough of these birds, however, to do sufficient good, for year by year we get orchards and gardens robbed of much of the fruit by this noxious yet interesting little insect. Recent reports of the benefit of parasites in connection with this pest are of interest, but seem to be of no practical value. Slingerland (2) records a number from America, The ova are attacked by a minute hymenopteron, Zrichogramma pretiosa (2), and the larvee also suffer from Ichneumon parasites, but the Codling Moth persists in enormous numbers. In Europe the parasite mentioned on p. 77 occurs in some numbers. Insects Injurious to the Apple. 75 PREVENTION AND TREATMENT. We can, however, lessen their number ourselves very easily. ‘To accomplish this all we have to do is to tie a band of hay or old cloth around the trunk of the tree close to the ground about June. If we examine the band in the winter we shall often find it full of the cocoons of the Codling Moth. These bands cam be burnt, and so very great numbers of the pest may be destroyed. Several correspondents have written stating that they have collected large numbers of the maveots during the past few years by banding the trees, and that, in conseyuence, the number of mageoty apples have been much reduced. Old manure sacking is very suit- able for this purpose. A few remain, having come down from above, and will hateh out and lay their egos, these may be coped with hy sprayine the trees with an arsenical poison directly the blossom has falleu. The poison lodges in the eye of the apple, and the first meal the youne caterpillar takes is arsenic, instead of apple, and so it is killed. This spraying should take place not later than ten days after the blossom has been shed. At the same time the fungicide - 4 7 FIG. TO.—THE HAY-ROPE BAND Bordeaux mixture may be used with the IN OPERATION, (Reduced from Dr. ‘Trimble’s arsenate of lead. The latter can now be ana Pp cbure. obtained in paste form (Swift’s Arsenate of Lead Paste), which is more convenient to use than the home-made mixture, This spraying must be done properly to be successful. As fine a mist as possible must be thrown cut, so that it penetrates well into the calyx. A great deal depends upon the right time of application. In a mixed orchard, it is of course impossible to do this at one operation, owing to the various times of blooming, = For other reasons as well, it is thus advisable to grow only one or two kinds of apples in each plantation. Of the three arsenates used for this purpose, viz., Paris green, London purple and arsenate of lead, there is no doubt that the last-named is much the most potent. The following table (3) may here be quoted showing the benefit derived from arsenical spraying. 76 Insect Pests. A.—In AMERICA. Percentage of Fruit Treatment. Harvested. f + Paris Green, } lb. to 50 galls. water : 2 61°65 63°04 Paris Green, } 1b. to 50 galls. water : 2 43°46 51°33 I. Arsenate of Lead (weaker solution) 74°98 81°63 | Arson of Lead (stronger solution) . ‘ 82°50 81°45 Unsprayed . ‘1 , F é ‘ j 43°67 49°09 Percentage of Picked Fruit Injured, Paris Green, } 1b. to 50 galls. water 3 , 17°48 2°02 Paris Green, 3 1b. to 50 galls. water ; % 12°87 3°10 II. { Arsenate of Lead (single strength) ; : 9°26 5°88 Arsenate of Lead (double strength) ’ 8:30. 3°48 Unsprayed . ; 3 : 32°78 37°82 i B.—Ar Wye. ‘Treatment. eae pais Injured : Ba ( Paris Green, + 1b. to 50 galls. water ‘ . 87°5 29°7 III. | Arsenate of Lead (normal) . ; : 5 20°5 15.5 \Unsprayed. OR Ge edb DRS 715 * Grimes’ Golden Apple. + Ben Davis. £ Worcester Pearmain. The strength of the arsenical wash, used at Wye, was as follows: Acetate of Lead : f : - 1202. Arsenate of Soda . . : é 4 oz. (40-50 p.c.) Water F : : , ji - 100 gallons. Recent experiments have shown that this wash was not then recommended at sufficient strength for all purposes. The new formula is given in the appendix. A great deal of good may be done in grass orchards by keeping pigs in them when the apples are falling, and some benefit has been found from the presence of poultry. Trees should also be kept clean by either using once every two or three years the lime and salt Insects Injurious to the Apple. ci wash or caustic alkali wash, or if Mussel Scale is present the Woburn wash in winter. REFERENCES. (1) Goedaerdt, IT. ‘Metamorphosis et Historia Naturalis Insectorum’ (1662- 1667). (2) Slingerland, M. V. The Codling Moth. Bull. 142. Cornell University Agricultural Experiment Station, U.S.A., p. 69 (1898). (8) Theobald, F. V. Second Report on Economic Zoology (Brit. Mus.), p. 50 (1904). (4) Theobal, F. V. Report on Economic Zoology for the year ending April Ist, 1906, p. 21 (1906). (5) Ormerod, E. A. ‘Handbook of Insects Injurious to Orchard and Bush Fruits ’ (1898). The Codling Moth Ichneumon. (Lphialtes carbonarius. Zach.) This is a well-known European parasite of the Codling Moth and is very common in some countries, notably in Spain. The female searches for the cocoons which the grubs of the Codling Moth have spun up under the bark of the trees, and by means of her long ovipositor she punctures the cocoons and deposits an egg in the grub. A female is believed to lay one hundred and fifty eggs, one in each grub. The Ichneumon maggot on hatching from the ege feeds upon the Codling Moth larva, pupates in its cocoon and eventually hatches as a Lphialtes carbonarius. The period from the egg to the hatching of the Ichneumon varies from thirty-eight to forty-six days. It is mentioned here on account of the great fuss that has been made concerning it as a means of checking this apple maggot. It was introduced from Spain into California some while ago by a Mr. Compere. Mr. Froggatt found no trace of this parasite in the Californian orchards, and he adds, ‘“‘and I might state that I have been unable to find any instance in which this Ichneumon parasite has been found in any orchard.”* Further he says: “The general opinion of all the apple growers with whom I talked is that this parasite is a failure up to the present in California, and will not make the least difference in their spraying work.”’* It is pleasing to find both Mr. Froggatt and Mr. Lounsbury, who have gone to see these various wonders, giving their sound and honest version of these matters. * Journal Dep. Agri. Victoria, vol. V., pt. 12, p. 717 (1908). 78 Insect Pests. The very lowing accounts so often given of the beneficent action of introduced parasites is merely throwing back for years any possible advance that might be made in this interesting subject. TORTRIX MOTHS ON THE APPLE. (Tortriv rvibeana, Hb.; 2. heparana, Sehiff.; Lortriv rosana, Linn. ; T. podana, Se. Sideria achatana, Fab.; Pyrodes rheediclla, Clerck.; and Spilonota roborana, Tr.) The above are the chief kinds of Tortrix Moths which have been sent to me as feeding on the apple. Few of the Tortricidee are to be met with on the wing before : [Horace Knight. FIG, 71.—TORTRIX MOTHS. : Tortrix ( Lozotwnia) ribeana, Tortrix (Lozotwnia) heparana. Tortrix (Lozotania) rosana. June, but they go on appearing until August. The larvie are very active and can usually be told by their curious sinuous back- ward movements when they are touched ; they have the normal number of legs, aud can thus at once be told from the Winter Moth larv. The foliage and blossom is devoured by them: the former they frequently roll up or unite together with fine silken strands. and the same is done with the blossom. In the young stages they feed more freely, however, on the leaves, etc. The pupal stave is chietly passed in the tubes or spun- -together leaves where they have | feeding. The winter is mostly passed in the eee stage, hibernate as small larvee in cases of debris. yeen but some Insects Injurious to the Apple. ao Nteports of damage caused by these larvie to fruit trees have heen received from the Duke of Northumberland’s, Alnwick: from nurseries in Worcestershire, Cornwall and Somerset; and froin orchards in Kent, Surrey, Cambridgeshire, Sussex, Radnorshire and Devon. No less than twelve species are to be found constantly at work on fruit, and imany more oceur now and again. The following are the most Important ones on apple. Tuk Common Tortrix (Portriv ribeana. Eb.) The front wings are pale yellowish-brown, with dark brown markings, one at the hase of the wing, a central fascia which is broader in the centre, its inner edge straight, also a small central spot; hind wings slaty-grey ; wing expanse 2 inch to a little more. The moth appears towards the end of June and in July. The [Horace Knight, =I te Sideria achatana, Pyrodes rheediella, caterpillar is dark olive-green with dark brown head and black spots ; the sides yellowish-green, spots pale around their edges; slightly hairy. They are to be found from May to June on a great variety of trees and shrubs, especially apples and plums. When mature they spin up amongst the leaves and change to reddish-brown pup, in which state they remain for two or three weeks. ALLIED TortrRix ( Tortrie heparand, Schutt). Front wings pale dull reddish-brown and the markings dark red brown, ineluding a basal patch, a central area broadest in the middle, with its inner edge rather angulated; hind wings slaty-grey with a yellowish fringe. Length 3 to nearly 1 inch. Appears on the wing in June and July. The larva is bright green, with darker 80 Insect Pests. dorsal line and green head. The pupa is very similar to the former. Specimens of both kept by myself pupated between the 19th of May and the 6th of June. Tortrix rosana. Linn. Fore wing brownish-grey, much reticulated with dark brown, edge of the basal patch very pronounced, swelling out to a dark spot on the fold ; central band narrow at the costa, broad on the inner margin ; central spot with a distinct line from its outer edge to the anal ancle. Appears in June and July. The caterpillar is dark olive-green {I. Bdenden., FIG, 73.—TORTRIX LARY.B (A) WITH DAMAGED FRUITLET (C) AND FOLIAGE (B). with white spots and brown head. This very common insect is often very harmful to young apple trees and also occurs on almost every tree and shrub. Pyroides (Hemerosia) vheediclla, Clevek. This little moth may often be seen in May flying in the sunshine amongst the blossoms and leaves of apple and hawthorn. and continues until June. The fore wines are dark smoky-brown, the apical portion of the wings of a brownish-orange. Leneth a little over 3} inch. It does not appear to do much damage althouch apparently common, Insects Injurious to the Avple. Sl Sideria achatana. Fab. ml : . e The moth appears in June and July. The Wing expanse varies from 3 inch to 2 inch; the fore wings are pale erey, with a brown basal patch, a median brown area broken in the middle, thus forming two spots, dusky apex and brick-dust red central spot; the hind wings uniformly erey. [P. BRdenden. PIG. T4.—TORTRIX MOTHS, A. Spilonota roborand. L. Portrix podane. It is found along hawthorn hedges in the south of England. It was sent me twice from Surrey in 1897 feeding in abundance on apple. PREVENTION AND TREATMENT. We, unfortunately, cannot prevent the Tortrix attack as we can the Winter Moth, and at present we know of no treatment which is likely to destroy the eggs. We are bound to spray to kill the larvee, and to be of any help this must be done before the larva: form those leaf-rolls or spin one or tivo leaves together. About mid April seems to be the time when we can catch most of these pests in the open, when they are small and have done but little damage. Arsenate of lead has been found quite successful, but two sprayings may be necessary, a second one in late May for killing some of the last batched caterpillars. The ordinary spraying for Winter Moth destroys the Tortrices at the same time. REFERENCE. (1) Theobald, F. V. Micro-Lepidopterous Larvie on Fruit Trees. Journal S. E. Agri. Coll. No. 6, p. 15 (Dec. 1897). 82 Insect Pests. THE ALLIED BUD MOTH. (Penthina (Auntithesi) rariegaid. Hb.) This Tortrix Moth lives in a very similar way to the Bud Moth. The moth is about 2 inch in width of wing expanse, The tront ; wines have the basal two-thirds brownish- black, the apical one-third clouded with erey towards the hind margin, there are also two or three black spots projecting from the edge of the central land. The moth appears in June and lays her eggs on the leaf. The larve are thick and dark green with black spots, the head and first segment being black. They occur in [EE. early spring and may be found on the eee apple, pear, and on hawthorn and sloe AN “ ANTITHESIA ” AT REST. . ¢ in the hedgerows (1 and 2). is passed much in the same way as the Bud Moth, according to Newstead (3). ). The winter ({EFERENCES. (1) Theobald, F. V. Journal 8S. E. Agri. College. No. 6, p. 18 (1897). (2) Theobald, FP. V. First Report on Economie Zoology (Brit. Mus. N.H.). p. 68 (1903). (3) Newstead, R. Gardeners’ Chronicle. p. 342. June 1901 and Journal Royal Horticultural Society. vol. NNVI.. pt. 4. fig. 315, THE BUD MOTH. (Hedya ocellana, Fah.) In certain years numerous inquiries are made during the summer concerning the larvee of a small Tortricid Moth which damages the buds of various fruit trees when they are bursting and for some time after. These larvie, which are prevalent to a greater or less extent every year, are mostly those of the Bud Moth (/fed ya oce/lana, Fab.). This fruit pest has long been known in Europe, Nollar (1) having described its ravages as far hack as 1857. Since that date little has been added to our knowledge in Europe, but in 1896 Slingerland (2) published a detailed account of its life-history. The aceounts of Kollar and Shneerland differ in some essential points, but the insect they write about is undoubtedly the same. It is quite probable that both observers are right, the insect living in two ways. The Bud Insects Injurious to the Apple. 83 Moth not only occurs in Europe, but also upon the North American Continent, both in Canada and the United States. The south of England has been most affected by its presence, but it occurs in the western, midland, and eastern counties. It has been especially re- corded from Bournemouth. Mr. J. H.W. Best of Suckley, Worcester- shire, tells me it is very harmful some years in his plantations. Most fruit trees are subject to its ravages, but apple suffers to the greatest extent. The presence of this fruit pest may be detected by the early destruction of the developing buds, which on partly opening are seen to be eaten and shrivelled and which soon turn brown; these buds will be found to contain a small reddish-brown caterpillar, the cause of the injury. Later the damage is still more noticeable, the opening leaf and blossom being spun together, for both leaf and blossom buds are attacked. There may frequently be noticed a gummy appearance on the opening leaflets. The larva enters the bud, if it has not already burst, by eating down between the bracts, and there, as described by Kollar, a drop of sap forms which tends to hold the bud intact and to stop it from bursting; in any case if it does open the young leaves soon shrivel and turn brown. More usually, many of the buds fully open, leaf and blossom appearing as usual, the caterpillars later spinning the bunches of leaves and blossoms into a mass with silk. These leaf nests frequently die right away and turn brown in a very characteristic manner. Slingerland (4) states that in America the larve also sometimes “ burrow down the stalk for two or three inches, causing it to die.” This habit has not so far been observed in England ; in all cases the larva boring down the top shoots of apple and pear has proved to be that of one of the Pith Moths (vide p. 92). When nearly mature the Bud Moth larva forms more or less of a tube by rolling up a leaf and roughly lines it with loose silk. The caterpillar at first only uses this tube as a shelter from which it emerges to feed, gradually drawing the neigh- bouring leaves together by silken cords. From observations made during the last few years it seems that the larve feed mainly at night. Lire-History AND HAsits. Tbe Bud Moth is one of the family of Zortricide. In size 1 varies from } to 2 inch across the expanded wings. The front wings are dark grey with a broad, greyish-white band across the middle with vreyish spots and streaks; near the so-called anal angle is a triangular dark spot and towards the tip a leaden-grey, G2 84 Insect Pests. eye-like spot with several black dots; the posterior pair of wings are ervey. Much variation is seen in the colour of different specimens. ~The moths are found on the wing in June and July at dark, and they frequent orchards, gardens and lanes, The female deposits her eves at night, usually singly, but now and then in clusters, upon the upper sides of the leaves. [Kollar (2) states that they are placed at the base of the leaf and frnit buds, and that they remain as ova during the whole of the winter. Both Fletcher (3) and Slingerland (4) found that the ova hatched in late summer and early autumn, and that the winter is passed in the larval, not egg, stage. This seems to be the rule in this country, but I have found such small larvee in spring that Iam inclined to fancy Kollar’s statement is also correct (7). The eggs are flat and more or less round, trans- parent, and resembling little specks of gum on the leaves. When several are laid together they overlap one another like the scales of a fish. In ceneral appearance they resemble the ova of the Codling Moth, the outer edge being marked with well-defined reticulation. The young larva can be seen developing within the ege-shell, and as it matures cives the centre of the ege a greenish hue. The eee stage lasts from seven to ten days. On hatching from the eges the larvee at once commence to feed on the under surface of the leaves where they form little tubes of silk, open at each end and attached to the leaves near the mid vib. When feeding, the young larvie form a small fine mass of webbing, beneath which they shelter and go on feeding until the leaves are nearly ee 1 NR pe... Dy then they are nearly halt erown.. Before SON the leaves fall they repair to the base or axils of the buds and winter there, enclosed in a small silken case usually covered with alge and dirt, as inconspicuous bodies no more than | inch long; sometimes they may be found under a dead bud seale. In these “winter houses” the larvee are ereen. When the buds commence to swell they leave the “houses and enter the buds, where they change to reddish-brown caterpillars with black leads, dark first segment and legs. When still more mature they become a pronouneed reddish-brown. When mature, the caterpillars reach nearly 4 inch in length. At first they live mainly in the buds in the spring, spinning the opemme leaves and blossoms fovether, but later they feed amongst the open leaves, Insects Injurious to the Apple. 85 uniting them together with silk. When mature they pupate in a tube of dead leaves. The pupa is bright brown, with two rows of backwardly-projecting spines on each segment. One brood only occurs in Great Britain. The moth is very common all over the south of England, but becomes rarer in the north. All fruit trees are attacked by this pest, but it is especially apple and cherry that suffer in this country. It also occurs on the sloe and plum, and has been recorded from the blackberry, whilst in North America it also attacks the peach and quince. NATURAL ENEMIES. Five species of Ichneumon flies prey upon the caterpillars of this moth in Europe, but none have been noticed in Great Britain. In North America they also are preyed upon by three species of Ichneumons. Amongst birds we find the Blue and Great Tits (Parus ceruleus and P. major) picking the larve out of the buds and leat nests. The Sparrow also has been observed feeding upon them. A large Sand-wasp, Odynerus catskillensis, stores its nest with these caterpillars in North America. None of these natural enemies, unless it be the Paride or Tits, do much good in keeping down this Bud Moth. PREVENTION AND TREATMENT, As we know that the larvee feed upon the leafage in the late summer we can, to a large extent, check the ravages of this pest by arsenical spraying. Larve are always more easily destroyed when young, and there is not the least doubt that spraying in the late summer will kill them. There should be a second washing in the spring when the caterpillars are to some extent exposed, just when the buds are bursting, and this may have to be followed by a third dressing to kill those that escape when they are in their leaf and blossom nests. Hand-picking may be resorted to in gardens and nurseries and where single low trees are invaded, the leaf nests being easily seen and picked off by hand before the moths have emerged from the pupal stage. Washing with caustic alkali wash does not seem to check this pest, for trees so treated in the winter of 1902 suffered severely from the Bud Moth and also Pith Moth in the following year. Probably the larval cases were hidden under the bud-bracts and in such places 86 Insect Pests. that the wash does not reach, the larval cases also protecting the caterpillars within from the burning action of the wash. REFERENCES. (1) Theobald, F. V. First Report on Economie Zoology, p. 62 (1903). (2) Kollar, V. Insects Injurious to Farmers. Gardeners and Foresters. p. 234 (1840). (3) Fletcher. Dr. Report Department of Agriculture of Canada, 1891, p. 195 (1891). (4) Slingerland. 1. Bulletin 107. Agricultural Exp. Station, Cornell Uni- versity Div. Ent. (1896). THE LITTLE ERMINE MOTHS. (Hyponomeutidea.) Inquiries concerning the Little Ermine Moths which attack apple trees and hawthorn hedges are some years very numerous. There are three species found on fruit, two only are important, one the Apple Ermine, the other the Hawthorn and Cherry Ermine. The apple species was separated by Zeller and is known as HZ, malinella, the hawthorn species is H. padella, the name by which our apple species has been previously recorded (2). The presence of the Little Ermine Moth larve can readily be detected on account of their web or nest-forming habits. The Apple Little Ermine Moth. (Hyponomeuta malinella. Zell.) The Small Ermine Moths or Hyponomeutide, of which there are seven species found in Great Britain, are easily known by the leaden- grey or white front wings having small black spots spread over them, and by the habit of their larvee living under a nest of silk. Three species attack fruit, namely, H. malinella, Zell., H. evonymella, L., Don, and A. pedella, L. The former is known as a fruit tree pest attacking the apple; it has been recorded, however, as H. padella, which it closely resembles. H. padella feeds on haw- thorn, and in France on plum and cherry; in Italy on plum. Although this last species is ssid to be fuund on apple, the nest made by the larvee on hawthorn in this country certainly differs from that made on apple, being much lovser. The form on the apple was named mlivorella by Stainton (4), but was apparently sunk as a Insects Injurtous to the Apple. S7 synonym of padella by lim later, Zeller described the apple form of Europe as meline/l, It has not been generally recognised in CE. Edenden, FIG. 77.—TEN? OF THE CHERRY AND EUONYMUS LITTLE ERMINE MOTH (I iponomeuta erouminell), (Half natural size.) England. A. pedi (Zeller) is apparently the same as ET, vronymella, L.: it only occasionally does any harm, its normal food plants ) ) Insect Pests. ¢ beine the bird-cherry (Prunvs poedus) and euonymus. It has been sent to me on more than one occasion from cultivated cherries in Kent and also from apple. Whitehead (3) says it is the species most usually met with in the north of England. H, padella otten does much harm to hawthorn hedges, frequently quite defoliating them. In Italy it attacks the plum, being known as “tionola del pruno”; in France, cherry, plum and grapes. It also attacks the cherry in England. he The apple pest (A. melinel/a) was most troublesome in 1865, 1877 and 1880, Whole orchards were entirely devastated in the two first-named years, the foliage being as bare as in midwinter. Such an attack not only ruins the year’s crop, but so harms the trees that they do not bear crops for some subsequent seasons, Lire-History aNp Habits. The life-history seems to have been confused in describing this pest with that of H. padclla (2). The fact that the same species was thought to attack both haw- thorn and apple probably is the cause of this. The apple species (1) is smaller than that found on the hawthorn, measuring about 17 mm.; the head is white and also the palpi; the thorax is snowy-white with black spots, as also are the fore wings, which have about twenty small black spots, the cilia a similar colour to the wings ; posterior wings grey, the fringe uniformly grey, thus differing from A. padella, in which the fringe of the posterior wings 1s pale grey 7S.—LITILE APPLE ERMINE (A. inalinella), a Ree ee es SoH ee Tae or white with grey apex. It is found widely over England, and Carpenter records it from Ireland. The moth appears in July and August. The earliest record I have of it is the 4th of July and the latest the 10th of August. Whitehead (3) savs “they appear towards the end of June.” [ have never observed Insects Injurious to the Apple. 89 them as early as this. Specimens sent by Mr. Bear were taken on the 2nd of August. Myr. Bear sent quite a new observation, namely, that when the moths were disturbed he found they fell to the eround with folded Wings and could be easily caueht. As in all this genus, the female deposits her eges on small twigs, in circular patches about one and a half lines in diameter: these ege-masses are then covered over with a glutinous substance which is at. first yellow, but which gradually becomes brown, wntil they resemble the colour of the bark upon which they ave situated. They are laid in eroups of fifty to eighty ; they ave placed in rows which overlap one another like tiles on ne root of a house. These eggs hatch in the autumn and the minute larvie remain under this case now composed of a glutinous substance and debris of ege-shells. As many as two to six dozen larvee form each group and there they remain all through the winter. They are at first of a pale yellow colour with black head and dark sueceeding segment and vary in length trom one-half to two-thirds of a line. As soon as the buds begin to burst these little larvie escape from the nest and enter the expanding buds and can then be easily found. In May they seem to disappear, but ap- — - . : (Horace Knight, pareutly have mined their way EGLO OH SOR: Hy ponomieitaandlinélla. into the soft parenchymatous (Natural size and enlarged.) tissue of the leaves, leaving the epidermis untouched. During this period they are said to cause the leaves to become red in patches, and later to become brown, owing to their tunneling into them. As a rule about a dozen sceur in each group on the leaves. As soon as the miners are sufliciently strong they leave the protection of the leaves and teed openly upon them. They may also be found in the developing calyces of the blossoms, and feed Hkewise upon them. At first they retain their yellow colour, but after becoming free they gradually be- come a dirty ashy-grey spotted with black, and later the ground colour becomes dull yellowish leaden-grey with more prominent black spots. Soon after they vacate the blossoms and young leaves they become eyecarious and live for the rest of their larval existence ben path a nest of grey silk spun at first between the folds of a leaf or leaves and later between the twigs. The small leaf nests are found in May. 90 Insect Pests. One or both of the leaves between which they shelter becomes skeletonised and the appearance is then very marked. By June they [i Bdenden NE CU fypouomenta nealinella). NST OF sO, make large nests and are nearly mature, and towards the end of the month they spin delicate cocoons often side ly side in the nest in Insects Injurious to the Apple. OL which the larv.e pupate and from which the moths appear in J uly and August. The pupal stage lasts about two weeks. Marchal (5) also records this species as a pest to almonds in France. The Hawthorn and Cherry Little Ermine. (Hyponomeuta padella, L.) This small Ermine Moth feeds normally on hawthorn, often quite defoliating the hedgerows. It also attacks cherry and plum. It is somewhat larger than the apple-feeding melinc/la, and differs in having the fringe of the anterior wings ash-coloured above, perfectly white below, without any dusky spot. It measures about 22 mm. across the open wings. The head, antenne, and palpi white; the fore wings white or grey, variable in colour, with three lines of black dots, two of which are close and parallel to the interior margin, the third along the anterior edge, with other black dots near the fringe ; the wings ash-grey below, about the same colour as the upper surface of the inferior wings. A few black spots on the thorax. They appear in July and August. The life-history is very similar to that of the preceding. The larva is of a dirty whitish-yellow colour, with black head, and two dark spots on the first segment, forming the thoracic shield, and another the anal plate; thoracic legs black. A median dusky line is present along the back, and on each side two rows of eleven round spots, brown in colour and slightly hairy. The pupa is yellow in the middle, brownish-black apically, and the same colour on the wing cases. They live and pupate much as in the former species, but the cocoons are much thinner, so much so that the pupa can be seen within, whilst in A. ma/inclla they are densely white, compact and opaque. They are placed differently also ; for in malinella they are in group-like packets, in this species they are never found in groups, but are more or less isolated, nor is the tent nearly so compact as in the apple-feeding species. PREVENTION AND REMEDIES. Washing with arsenates has but little effect upon these pests, owing to their feeding between the silken nests, which protect the leaves from contact with the wash, but it nevertheless does some good, especially where arsenate of lead is used. Whether spraying with caustic alkali wash in winter would kill the young Jarve is 92 Insect Pests. also doubtful, if used at the strength generally employed, but it can be used at double that strength on dormant wood, even if 98 per cent. strength of commercial caustic soda is used. The stronger solution would, I feel sure, destroy the glutinous cover over the young cater- pillars. General observations have tended to confirm this view. The tents should always be collected as soon as they are seen forming, and burnt with their complement of larve, or collected and put in pails of quicklime. Those high up may be cut off with long-handled shears, such as are used for tree trimming. The species on hawthorn hedges may be destroyed on a large scale by beating the hedges with supple sticks, and treading on the caterpillars as they fall down, or with lighted torches. NATURAL ENEMIES. The Little Ermine Moth caterpillars are preyed upon by Starlings, which greedily devour them, and I have bred an Ichneumon in numbers from specimens collected in Kent. REFERENCES. (1) Theobald, F. V. Second Report on Economic Zoology (Brit. Mus., N.H.), p. 81 (1904). (2) Ormerod, E. A. ‘Handbook of Insects Injurious to Orchard and Bush Fruits,’ p. 27 (1898). (8) Whitehead, Sir C. Report on Insects Injurious to Fruit Crops, p. 68 (1886). (4) Stainton. H. T. ‘Lepidoptera Tineina, Insecta Britannica, vol. IIT., p. 60 (1854). (5) Marchal, P. Bulletin Société d’Etudes et de Vulgarisation de la Zoologie Agricole. No. 4, p. 17 (1902). THE PITH MOTHS. (Blastodacna hellereila, Dup., and Blastodacna vinolentella, Herr-Schaff.) The Pith Moths are small Tineid moths whose larvee cause a good deal of harm to apple trees. The damage done is particularly notice- able in nursery stock, but bush apples are affected in the orchards. The larvee tunnel into the buds, spurs and shoots, and kill them. The leaves and blossom flag, then gradually turn brown and die, The dead parts may remain on the trees some time or they may fall off. Buds are killed in late autumn and winter. The attack of the Pith Moth larve may at once be told from that of the Bud Moth by the Insects Injurious to the Apple. 93 absence of spun together leaves and blossom and by the whole mass dying back. Very similar eflects are produced by canker. Tt has also heen reported attacking pears (1). It is a widespread pest, having been recorded from Worcestershire, Herefordshire, Gloucester- shire, Cambridgeshire, Bournemouth, Sussex (Hailsham and Pole- gate), Surrey and Kent (1), and in Ireland it is recorded by Carpenter (6) from Donnybrook. Livg-History axp Hagirs. The moth of vinolentel/a has a wing expanse of a little less than + inch; the front wings may be almost entively black, or may be marked with dark brown, and rusty brown ; the inner margin of the fore wings is white to beyond the middle, where an irregular faint oblique white bar proceeds to the tip of the wing, and two branches from this intersect the black apical portion. The hind wings are vrey aud deusely fringed; the head black. Carpenter (6) sauvs the true Laverna atra, Haworth, is characterised by a white head, and that the black-headed form is Bo rinolentella, The specimens I have bred have had both black and white heads. The white- headed species is 2. hellerella® The y moths appear in July and on into Aneust. The egg stage is unknown. The larvie hatch in late summer and LEE. he iy FIG. SL—PITH Mori AN yA Wb feed first of all on the leaves, later they bathe ae nies aoe bore into a bud, and still later under (Natnral size.) the rind of a spur or shoot near a Ind and remain there all the winter. Their presence can he detected by a small round hole near the bud and a brown blister-like patch where they have been working. In spring they tunnel up the shoot, which if broken olf will be found to contain the Pith Moth caterpillar or pupa, usually situated near the apex of a shoot. The larva is dull reddish-brown with a deep brown head and * The white-headed species common in Went is 2. hellerea, Dup.; the black-headed species is B. vinolentella, H. 5. (ave in Kent and Worcester). The species [ originally referred the Pith Moth to—Luverna atra, Stainton. following Miss Ormerod—is the black-headed B. putripenclla of Zeller, 94 Tnsect Pests. first segment; the other segments show more or less traces of pale brown spots, four in a row on the second and third segments and (LF. Edenden. FIG, $2.—APPLE SHOOT ATTACKED BY PITH MOTH. (Right hand spur showing flayging.) four placed in a quadransle on the remaining segments. The two anterior segments have two lateral spots and the remainder a single lateral spot. The apex is deep brown. When mature they reach } inch in length and then pupate ear the apex of the shoot they lave tunnelled. They reach their full-fed stage during the last two weeks in June. If the dead shoots ave picked off, the moths can he easily bred. They are ; very active, running and flying readily. UE. Knight, The pupa is of an ochraceous FIG. $3. hue; the head and front of the thorax and tip of the body mahogany red. It is cylindrical in form and vbout | inch long. On the ventral surface of the penultimate seement are two blunt PITH MOTH (Blastodacna hellerellia), Insects Injurious to the Apple. 95 processes separate and diverging outwards, hairy at their apices : the eyes ave black and the Wing cases and lees lone, the lormer pointed. This stage lasts from two to three weeks, | the moths emerging from the end of June into mid August. The pupwe may sometimes he seen project- ing from the dead shoot, | Now and again the red larvw leave the shoots and pupate amongst the dead leaves. The minute differences of the larvie and pupe of the two species have not yet been made out. Mr. W. Bear says the attack becomes evident at Hailsham in May (3). PREVENTIVE Merasures. It is quite obvious that there can be no remedy for this pest, but we can Fee : : Me Bidenden, do much in the way of pre- : eae FIG. SLWINTHER STAGE OF PITIL MOTI, SHOWING vention by hand-picking BLISTERS AND HOLES. the dead shoots before the moths emerge in June. This can only he done, of course, where small trees are attacked, and it usually happens that if is only on such trees that the attack takes place, but I have known larce bush trees attacked. The larve may be killed by cutting off attacked parts in winter, easily told by tle characters previously eiven (wide Fig. 84), Late spraying with arsenate of lead might prove beneficial, as it would kill the young larvie, which secm to feed first of all on the leaves. Of course, care must be taken in revard to the fruit. The trees should be washed as soon as the fruit is harvested; a heavy spraying should be given. The time to spray therefore must depend on the variety of apple concerned. This is certainly worth giving a fair trial, as beyond 96 Insect Pests. hand-picking we can do nothing to check the increase of this pest, so noticeable during the past few years. Some varieties seem more liable to it than others. Mr. Smith of Linton found that Worcester Pearmains were attacked, but not the alternate rows of Lord Derby (4). REFERENCES. (1) Theobald, F. V. First Report on Economie Zoology (Brit. Mus. N.H.), p. 68 (1903). (2) Theobald, F. V. Second Report on Economie Zoology (Brit. Mus. N.H.), pp. 35 and 108 (1904). (8) Theobald, F. V. Report on Economic Zoology for the year ending April 1st, 1905, p. 14 (1905). (4) Theobald, F. V. Report on Economic Zoology for the year ending April Ist, 1907, p. 26 (1907). (5) Ormerod, EZ. A. ‘Handbook of Insects Injurious to Orchard and Bush Fruits,’ p. 275 (1898). (6) Carpenter, G. H. Injurious Insects and Other Animals observed in Ireland in 1905. Ec. Pro. Royal Dublin Soc., vol. I., pt. 8, p. 333 (1906). THE APPLE LEAF MINER. (Lyonetia elerckella, Linn.) This Apple Leaf Miner was unusually prevalent in 1903 and, in a few cases reported, damaged the foliage of dwarf apple trees very considerably. In one instance the attack was personally investigated in Huntingdonshire and every leaf on two trees was found to be tenanted by the larvee of this minute Tineid. The leaves which were attacked had more or less shrivelled, and many had died away in August, the trees thus receiving a serious check, as the sap was still flowing freely. This insect also appeared in plenty in my own garden at Wye, which enabled me to keep it more or less under observation. The presence of this leaf miner is easily told by the long, sinuous tunnels caused by the larvee burrowing in the leaves. As arule,a single tunnel occurs only on each leaf, but where the damage nia been noticed, as many as four have been present, the greater part of the chlorophyll being thus destroyed. This moth occurs in most parts of England ; it has been especially recorded from Cambridgeshire, Huntingdonshire, Middlesex, Surrey, Kent, and from Bristol, Darlington, Manchester, and various parts of Yorkshire. I do not know of any previous record of its doing any appreciable Insects Injurious lo the Apple. 97 amount of damage to fruit foliage, but it has frequently been sent since, As will be seen trom what we know at present of its life-history, there is no vulnerable point at which we can direct onr enersies when it increases sufficiently to hecome a pest. LirE-Hisrony anp Hanirs. The moth appears in April, June, August and September and again in November. [t is about | inch across the expanded wings ; the front wings are narrow and lanceolate, brownish-white, with a lone [F. Hdenden. FIG. S5.—THE APPLE LEAF MINER (Lionetia clerckella), T, cocoon, seen at Az II, larval mine. brown line beyond the middle with a narrow fuscous fascia and three fuscous streaks, at the apex is a prominent black spot, the fringe is brownish-grey and so are the hind wings and their fringes. Some specimens have the fore wings almost bronzy, especially atter death, the colours quickly darkening ; the abdomen is clothed with sbiny steely scales and the dusky antenne are lone and slender, the legs are shiny brown with pale tarsal bands and _ the hind legs have prominent tibial spurs. The females (and possibly the males) hibernate in crevices, under rubbish, especially where they can keep dry. Some were found in rt 98 Insect Pests. midwinter in box hedges in my garden. The first sign of larval life may be noticed in May. The female as arule deposits one minute eze on each apple leaf or sometimes cherry leaf. In (at present) an unknown period the larva hatches and bores into the leaf and there forms a twisted and serpentine tunnel (Fig. 85) in the leaf. feeding upon the soft parenchyma. Although I have been unable to note the egg it is evidently laid upon, not in, the leaf, as a minute hole can often be seen at one end of the tunnel through which the larva has doubtless entered. The larva gradually enlarges this tunnel as it grows; at its end it is usually 14 mm. aeross. The tunnel may be brown, black or grey, the larger end eauelly showing a median line of dark “frass.” Inside this tunnel will be found the green caterpillar varying from pale to deep apple-green. It reaches when full grown 6 mm. in length; the segments are (Horace Knight. FIG. S6.—APPLE LEAF MINER (Lyonetia clerckella), deeply constricted and more ‘or less rounded: the head is dark, and there are two dark patches on the first segment and also a hair on each segment. In general form the larva is flattened. The six jointed-legs are brown and the eight prolegs also brown to almost black. Larval life seems varia ble, for some were mature four weeks after the first signs of the tunnels were noticed, others not until five weeks. The larva can be seen in its tunnel | ry holding the leaf against the light. They fit in so closely that they can ae move towards the end of their erowth., : When mature they leave the leaf by eating their w ay out of the gallery and crawl about upon the leaves for a short time. Usually ina few hours they commence to spin a cocoon on the leaf. These cocoons are generally spun on the under side of the leaves but may occur on the upper side, the latter only when they settle Insects Injurious to the Apple. 99 upon small or curved leaves. Very often the cocoon is spun on the leaf in which the larva has tunnelled, or it may be on a fresh leaf. This case is formed of very fine shiny white silk, and is made in well-formed examples, as follows: a thick strand extending from one branch vein to another on each side, usually parallel and about 5 mm. apart. The length of these lateral strands depends upon the distance of the ribs apart. J have measured some 30 mm. long. The cocoon is spun between these and attached to them by another strand of silk on each side. The cocoon itself is cylindrical and open at each end. They may also occur with the threads running from the mid rib to the edge of the leaf. The pupa is pale apple-green, the front fawn-coloured and also the wing cases. The third segment of the abdomen has a large apical yellow patch, and the base of the fourth is also yellow, the venter pale green, with the tips of the leg cases black, also the eyes. It is formed a few days after the larva has commenced to build the nest. It is notched in front, and behind the antennal cases stick out as two prominences. The leg cases and wing cases are long and pro- minent, and there are black marks noticeable at the apices of all the legs. The pupa is 3-5 mm. long. The pupal stage lasts from ten to twenty days. The larve found in April give rise to a brood of moths in June and July. These lay their eggs again, and we find the larve occurring in July and beginning of August. They mature and give rise to a third brood in September and October. This latter brood of moths hibernate, but those that occur early in September, may lay eggs and produce another generation of larvee which mature in the middle of October and join in hibernating with the late-hatched previous brood. PREVENTION AND TREATMENT. It is extremely difficult to say what to do in such an attack, but fortunately it is usually limited to a few trees, and these usually pyramids and espaliers, where hand-picking can be carried out. The whole life seems to be spent on the tree in a protected condition, the only time the larve are free being when they leave the tunnels and commence to spin. They then take no food, and as they hatch out irregularly, two broods even overlapping, nothing can be done to destroy them. All we can do seems to be the rather drastic measure of destroying all the leafage in September by means of a strong arsenical wash and so killing the larvie and pupze, or constant spraying with paraffin emulsion in the spring to prevent egg-laying. It is certainly worth while to hand-pick trees that are ce H 2 100 Insect Pests. constantly, so as to exterminate the moth, which may occur under certain conditions in dangerous numbers. This is especially to be borne in mind by growers, fur we can hold out less hope of com- bating this insect than the Pear Midge, which still to some extent baffles treatment and yet has a distinct period in its existence when we should be able to destrov it. In examining specimens sent from Huntingdonshire I found many of the larvee dead in their galleries. Each of the dead ones contained the larva of a Chalcid which had destroyed it. These natural enemies, unfortunately, did not hatch out. REFERENCE. (1) Theobald, F. V. Second Report on Economic Zoology (Brit. Mus. N.H.) p. 37 (1904). THE WILD CRAB LEAF MINER. (Nepticula matella, Sta.) This small mining Tineid Moth was reported from Kent as being very abundant on apple trees in the autumn of 1906 (2). In one case nearly every leaf was found to be mined in early October. Many of the leaves had fallen in the latter part of September owing to this little insect’s depredations. At this time of year, the damage is, of course, not serious, but the loss must, to some extent, check the final annual growth, especially in certain young trees. The mine caused by the larva is very characteristic. It starts as a small, thin, sinuous tunnel, which gradually swells out into a blister-like area, at first green, and then becoming yellowish-green. Stainton (1) who gave an excellent account of this moth, describes the mine as greenish-orange. None were seen of those sent in which any orange tone appeared, but the identification is beyond doubt. One very noticeable feature is that the track of the larva is marked by a dark, sinuous line of black excrement. As many as six mines were frequently seen on one leaf. All varieties of apples seemed to be affected but Cox’s Orange Pippin ; no trace could be found on any of the latter, although they were growing amongst attacked trees and the leaves were still firm. The early maturing of the leaves may have something to do with this. Should this moth continue in abundance in the following year after an autumnal attack, it might cause a good deal of hai Rs the first brood attacks the leaves early in July. Insects Injurious to the Apple. 101 The distribution is very wide in England, specimens having heen reported from Devonshire up to Yorkshire. I believe it occurs in Scotland, and Stainton records it from Dublin, It is now, just as mentioned by Stainton in 1855, very common in the London district. In 1887 it was quite harmful at Kineston- on-Thames, ; Lirk-History anp Haprrs. The moth appears towards the end of May. The female places her eges on the underside of the leaves, in most cases close to the mid rib, from which area the mine first commences, Now and acain it is placed on other parts of the leaf. . In colour, the moth has almost black anterior wines, with a bright pale (almost white) hand across each on the apical half; the [Horace Knight. FIG. 87.—Nepticula malella. hind wings are erey and also the fringes. The thorax is dark, and the abdomen vrey. In length it reaches £ to 5 mm. The larval mine is at first very thin, and vradually increases in size, Widening somewhat as the “ miner” vrows ; into a more blister-like area of pale hue, the exact track of the larva beimg marked by a dark line of “frass.” The larva is pale amber- yellow, with a dark central line, sometimes brown, at others with a red tinge; the head is brown, aud the body slightly hairy. When full ted it reaches about 4 mm., and then eats its way out of the leaves from the upper surface. The free larvw seek shelter at the base of the leaves, in any crevice, or even fall on to the cocoons of dull yellowish silk. suddenly it swells out round, and then spin oblong oval o cso The second brood of moths appear in early August, but some 102 Insect Pests. years not until the middle of the month, and these produce the larvee which make the mines seen in September and October. In the autumn of 1906 the second brood of larvee had matured mostly by the second week in October, but a few were found in the leaves as late as the 4th of November. They winter in the pupal stage in crevices on the trees, around the buds, ete., and in any convenient shelter. It was said by Stainton (1) to be common on the wild apples in the hedgerows. In this way invasion can always come to an orchard. Fortunately, wild apples are scarce. It has also been observed on FIG, $3.—APPLE LEAF MINER (Nepticula malella), A. larva; B, coceon: C, mined leaf, the medlar and quince, but so far not on hawthorn. A number of the larvee were found dead in the mines in the autumn. The cause of this could not be traced. TREATMENT, As far as can be seen at present the treatment for these Apple Leaf Miners is somewhat difficult, but it is possible that a cood dressing of lime wash would so coat the little cocoons that the early brood of moths could not escape from the cocoons, In nurseries it is advisable to hand-pick any mined leaves in July, before the escape of the larva. , Insects Injurtous to the Apple. 103 ReFERENCES. (1) Stainton, H. T. * Natural History of the Tineina,’ vol. T., 7 Pl. v., Fig 3 (1855). (2) Theobald, I’. Ve Report on Economie Zoology for the year ending April Ist, 1907, p. 28 (1907). . | p. 208-214, THE APPLE LEAF-BLISTER MOTH. (Ornia pettotella, Sta.) Amongst several specimens of apple leaves sent during the year 1907 damaged by mining larvic, some were found to he attacked by the little Tineid known as Ornir pefiolella, The mine formed by this species is a rough blotch, like that of the nut species (Fig. 201), [Horace Knight. FIG. 89.—Ornix petrolella. and is on the wpper surface of the leaf. The larva found in these blisters is greyish-green to olive green in colour, the third to tenth secments have six pale spots, fowr in a row in front and two behind ; from these arise short stiff hairs. In length, the larve may an 7-5 mm. They are found in June and again in September. When mature the larva leaves the blister and spins the two sides of the leaf together, which forms a nest over 5 inch in length (Staimton (2) says an melt: within this the larva, which finally assumes an orange-yellow hue, spins a dull y ellowish cocoon. The moth first appears in May. Its wing expanse is from 10 to 12mm. The front wings are deep brownish-grey; on the costa are seven or eight white patches, and on the inner edge also are some whitish markings - the fringe has two external thin black lines from the costa to the anal angle. Posterior wings grey with long 104 Insect Pests. grey cilia. Thorax spotted white and grey. Abdomen deep grey ; apex ochreous ; legs grey and white scaled. The moths fly towards evening; very few are seen in May, but in the late summer the second brood is quite abundant in some trees. It does not, however, seem to do much harm (1). REFERENCES. (1) Theobald, F. V. Report on Economic Zoology for the year ending April Ist, 1907, p. 27 (1907). (2) Stainton, H. T. ‘Natural History of the Tineina,’ vol. VIII., pp. 235-242 (1864). THE APPLE BLOSSOM WEEVIL. (Anthonomus pomorum. Linn.) In cold and unfavourable weather, when the flow of sap to the developing apple blossom buds is checked, and their opening retarded, much damage is often wrought by the larve of a small weevil, known as the Apple Blossom Weevil, the Anthonomus pomorum of Linneus. This pest has been known for a con- siderable number of years ws an insect injurious to the apple. Mr. Knight, in his ‘Treatise on the Culture of the Apple and Pear,’ published in 1801, refers to this weevil as being particularly “fatal to a larger proportion of the blossom, when the time of its expansion has been preceded by hot and dry weather.” (Kollar (1) also refers at length to this pest. Not only is the apple blossom attacked by this species of weevil, but the pear also. Canon Fowler (2) in his work on beetles, says it is ‘apparently uncommon in the London district, Kent and Surrey.” This statement:is, however, far from correct ; for, in Kent it is a terrible pest, and it is nearly as bad in parts of Surrey (10). This weevil is also very harmful in Worcestersuire (11). Lirk-Hisrory 1Np Hapirs. As soon as the first warm days of spring come, the beetles leave their winter shelter, and, after being fertilised by the male, are ready to lay their eggs. The ova, which are white oval bodies, are desposited in the blossom buds before they open. How the females veach the buds is still an undecided question. They are provided with wings, but they seldom, it appears, make use of them. Kollar says, “nor are they seen flying from branch to branch.” White- Insects Injurtous to the Apple. 105 head (3) states that they “ fly and erawl” to the branches. Curtis (4) avers that “the females will not readily fly,” but that “the males are seen ou sunny mornings flying among the trees in search of the females, who eenerally are crawling over the branches.” Mr. White- head (5) again in his pamphlet states that “the female by flying or erawline finds its way to the blossom buds.” The males are often taken on the wing, but seldom females, although the orchards are teeming with this beetle. The adults are extremely timid and fall at the least vibration. Of those fallen upon the ground, very few crawl up the trunk so as to regain the branches. Now what becomes of the others unless they fly back to the tree or to other trees? Although the females do not readily take wing, yet they undoubtedly do fly from the ground into the branches, especially on warm, sunny days. I am sure that the females fly more than we imagine. In any case the recommended | erease - banding will not catch them, which it might do if they crawled up the trunks of the trees as has been averred by some people, not naturalists. Copula- tion undoubtedly takes place upon | | the branches. The female deposits her eggs in the blossom buds before they open, As soomas the blossom: (ahhh. H | Horace Kright, commences to expand she leaves FIG, 90. —APPLE BLOSSOM WEEVIL off ovipositing, as the larvw could aon BRIAN: not live in an open blossom. Thus it will be seen that cold, damp weather, in spring, especially nights with frost, keeping back the buds, extends over a greater length of time the egg-laying period of the female. A single ovum is deposited in each blossom, but several possibly in a blossom bud. The act of oviposition takes some time, usually at least three- quarters of an hour, so that a single female cannot lay very many eoas if the blossom buds expand rapidly, as they do in fine, warm weather, Oviposition continues for two weeks, about fifty eggs being laid. Myr. Whitehead says 15 to 20 eggs. I have often taken females which by dissection have shown 50 and even 60 ova in them. Lf we watch a female we shall see her wandering about upon 106 Insect Pests. the various buds, and at last, settling upon one in particular, she commences to bore a hole into it by means of her long proboscis. When she has reached the centre of the bud, a cavity is formed by means of her spatulate rostrum. Then reversing her position, she lays an egg in the hole, and again turns round and pushes it far into the cavity with her snout. The aperture thus formed is very minute, and cannot easily be seen with a lens. The hole is afterwards closed up by the female with saliva, a similar habit to that which we see in the Corn Weevil (Calandra granaria). In from five to seven days these ova hatch into small, white, footless maggots, which at once commence to feed upon the stamens and other internal parts of the blossom, and later on even upon the receptacle. They rarely touch the ovary. The blossom commences to expand, but the petals seldom completely open. The growth suddenly ceases, the petals which form a kind of brown cap over the receptacle, shrivel up and die, presenting a scorched appearance. On this account the disease is spoken of as “capped blossom.” On opening one of these diseased-looking blossoms there will be found a small, white, maggot lying in the centre. At first this foot- less maggot is a pure white grub with a dark brown head. As in all he. weevils, the larva lies in a curved position; by degrees it assumes a creamy colour, and the skin becomes more and more. wrinkled. The spiracles are dark brown, and there are a number of scattered hairs over the body; on the ventral surface are some pointed tubercles, by means of which the larva can move in the cavity of the blossom. When full-grown the larva is 5% inch in length, having reached maturity in from ten days to two weeks. The period of larval life is, however, very variable, some may reach the full-fed state in about eight days, others taking three weeks,. this variation depending entirely upon the weather. On the larva reaching maturity it casts its skin and assumes the pupal state, still inside the blossom, which is now practically dead. The pupa is pale yellowish-brown, and with the various parts of the imago marked out upon it, the long proboscis being particularly noticeable, folded under the head and lying between the leg cases. The pupa, which is slightly smaller than the larva, etches in from seven to ten days. The eyes, which are clearly seen, are black in colour, contrasting strongly with the rest of the body. Soon after the adult beetle has come forth from the pupa case it commences to eat its way out of the dead, brown blossom, leaving behind a round hole, from which it has made its exit. The weevil rests for a short time, some five or six hours, and then it commences Insects Injurious to the Apple. LOT to feed upon the leaves of the apple for the rest of the summer months. Some naturalists say they do not eat the leaves but exist upon the adipose tissue stored up in their body. About the middle of the autumn they look about for some shelter in which to hibernate during the winter months, such, for instance, as under the rough bark of the trees, beneath stones and any rubbish on the ground; from where they will come forth in the following spring ready to attack the blossom again. The adult beetle (Fig. 90) is described as follows by Fowler :— “ Pitchy-black or fuscous-black with ashy pubescence ; bead thickly pubescent with an impression on the forehead ; rostrum lone, slender and curved; antenne long and slender, reddish, dusky at apex ; thorax pitechy, sometimes rufo-piceous at sides, with rather scanty, coarse, White pubescence; scutellum thickly pubescent; elytra pitchy, sometimes pitchy-ferruginous, with alternate bare and white fascie, the one behind the middle com- sh posed of whitish pubes- ‘ eence being oblique and much the most conspicuous, punctured striw distinct and rather strong, interstices very closely punctured ; legs [iL Bdenden, ms FIG, O1,—APPLE BLOSSOM WEEVIL (natural size and magnified) more or less pitchy, AND “CAPPED” BLOSSOM, SHOWING EXIT HOLE Ar A. but variable in colour ; femora always more or less dusky, anterior pair with very strong tooth, intermediate and posterior with mueh smaller teeth; length, 3 to 4mm. (about { to} inch).” Roughly speaking we can recognise this Blossom Weevil by the pale V-shaped mark on the wing cases. The attack of this beetle may be told first of all by the presence of the beetle itself in the early spring upon the apple branches ; a good jarring will soon cause them to fall off and show their presence. The surest sign is the scorched appearance of some of the flowers and their often failing to open, whilst other blossoms are fully expanded. The larvie are unable to hve in an opened bud, hence in fine weather, when the blossoms expand rapidly, many of the young larvw die before they have damaged the bud, and in many cases the blossoms may expand before even 108 Insect Pests. the ova are hatched, and thus all damage caused by the maggot is prevented. In most cases the invaded blossoms fall when the larve have reached maturity, in any case they will fall if the trees are shaken, and we must remember that the pupe are still in these dead inflores- cences when they fall or areshaken to the ground. Those from which the beetles have escaped can at once be detected by the large round hole near the base of the blossom. So great a number of these Coleoptera appear in some seasons (especially noticeable for the reasons given above, when there have been dull, damp and frosty nights) that as much as 40 per cent. of the apple crop has often been destroyed by them. It is particularly abundant in Kent, and is also extremely destructive in Worcestershire, Cambridgeshire and in other counties. Miss Ormerod (1) records a case at Redditch in which 25 per cent. of the blossoms were damaged. This is, however, nothing to some attacks. The usual time for the beetle to be seen is about the first week in April, and from then right on through the summer. The diseased blossoms commence to show from the middle of May to the middle of June. Both early and late apples are alike attacked, none as far as I know being immune against this pest. The middle crop suffers most of all. With regard to pears, the damage is comparatively slight, J. pomorum only occasionally visits that fruit tree. PREVENTION. With regard to preventive measures, there are several points dependent on the natural economy of the pest worth considering. First, with regard to preventing a future attack. The blossoms that show a backward state and become brown at the tips, are those that contain either the larve or pup of the beetle. They readily fall if the tree is jarred—in fact, great numbers do without being shaken; they can then be collected and burnt, thereby destroying many of the weevils that will not only live upon the leafage during the summer, but also hibernate and come out and place their eggs in the buds next year. Care must be taken to do this soon enough, that is, before the weevils have escaped from the dead blossoms. This would be sure to lessen very largely the amount of future attack. Several fruit-growers have told me that they have seen weevils in the grease bands when they have been left on late. There does not seem sufficient evidence, however, to justify grease-banding for this Insects Injurious to the Apple. 109 pest, as so many of the beetles hibernate high up and others un- doubtedly fly on warm days. All personal observations made have failed to show that any weevils are caught in the bands, One caution must be given, that is, not to follow the advice of banding with tar, a sure method of killing the tree, as all fruit-growers know, if persisted in. Needless to say, all the rough bark should be scraped off the trees so as to do away with one of the winter habitats, whilst all rubbish, dead leaves, and so forth, under the trees, should be burnt in the winter. As to the possibility of spraying being of benefit, there is some difference of opinion. Whether an odorant or an arsenical poison is best remains to be decided. Certainly, spraying the trees before the blossom buds burst, about the time the beetles appear, with kerosene emulsion is of no value. It may be possible that some form of arsenate for spraying might poison the beetles whilst boring the holes for the eggs into the buds with their proboscis. The only instance I find recorded of this method is in one of Miss Ormerod’s reports (1), where it is stated it was not attended with any success. What arsenate was used I do not know. I have never found any benefit from this treat- ment. Mr. J. H. W. Best, writing from Worcestershire, says he thinks that the lime and salt wash has reduced them to some extent. At present, however, it seems no form of spraying is of much use. “Jarring” for the beetles is the best plan; the beetles readily fall on being shaken, and if a tarred board or cloth be held under- neath it is surprising how soon an orchard can be cleared. The best plan is that adopted in American fruit orchards, namely, of attaching at each end of a piece of cloth about two yards square, a rod of wood, and to these in the middle, another rod placed lengthways, over- lapping one end so as to form a handle, and also to keep the two end rods expanded. The cloth can be either smeared with grease or tar, or any other sticky substance in which the weevil cannot crawl. In England this beetle is found abundantly in the west, south and south-east, less common in the north, but often very abundant in the midland counties. I have taken it in both north and south Wales. In Ireland it is found in abundance, at times, near Dublin, and it is also found in the north. I have not heard of its destruc- tive habits in Scotland, but it is recorded from Edinburgh. In France it is very abundant around Paris, and is a general pest in 110 Insect Pests. French apple orchards. Germany and Austria are also countries in which it is found. Recently it has apparently appeared in America, Dietz recording it in the Transactions of the American Entomological Society (8) ; and Dr. Lintner (9), in his list of Apple Insects of the United States, also records its presence. Miss Ormerod, in the report referred to before, says: “ Anything deterrent, such as common whitewash with a little paraffin in it, or soft soap, with a little paraffin or sulphur added, and well applied to the stems and branches, would be likely to be of some service in keeping off attack.” What one must aim at, I fancy, most of all in this attack is the destruction of the diseased blossoms, and the jarring off of the beetles on to tarred cloths ; whilst the destruction in the winter of the lichens, etc. (as well as the cleaning of the bark), by spraying the trees with either lime and salt or caustic soda wash is advisable. NATURAL ENEMIES. Amongst the natural enemies of the Apple Weevil is an Ichneu- mon fly of the genus Pimple, which deposits its eggs in the Weevil larve. The Tits (Paride) and Woodpeckers (Picid) also eat them greedily, especially the hibernating beetles. REFERENCES. (1) Kollar, Vincent, ‘A Treatise on Insects Injurious to Gardeners, Foresters and Farmers,’ p. 245 (1840). (2) Fowler, Canon. ‘Coleoptera of the British Isles,’ vol. V., p. 318 (1891). (8) Whitehead, Sir C. Report on Insects Injurious to Fruit Crops, p. 20 (1886). (4) Curtis, J. Gardeners’ Chronicle, p. 556 (1844). (5) Whitehead, Sir C. Leaflet A vs Board of Agriculture (1893). (6) Ormerod, E, A. Fourteenth Report on Injurious Insects, p. 13 (1891). (7) Theobald, F. V. Entomologists’ Monthly Magazine, vol. VIT., 2nd Se., p- 60 (1896). (8) Dietz, F. Transactions of the American Entomological Society, XVIII., p. 204. (9) Lintner, Dr. Eleventh Report of the N. York State Entomologist, p. 270 (1896). : (10) Theobald, F. V. ‘The Apple Blossom Weevil,’ p. 15 (1897). (11) Theobald, F. V. Report on the Insect Pests in the Orchards of Wor- eestershire (1906). Insects Injurious to the Apple. 111 THE FRUIT BARK BEETLE. (Neolytis rirgilosis, Ratz.) The damage caused by this Bark Beetle seems to be on the increase. It is recorded from Devon, Worcester and Kent. Writing in July 1906, Ma. Lewis Levy of Borden Hall, near Sittingbourne, says: “ We have a plum tree which has just died, and tind numerous tunnels between the bark and the wood, and also in the latter.” The specimen sent and the damaged wood, proved the culprit. to he Seolytus rugiulosus. Numerous trees were observed in Worcestershire. several of which had been killed, and others were dying from the effects of this Bark Beetle. The worst attacked specimen seen was sent me by Mr. Gardner of Ombersley, who very wisely destroyed the infested trees. Part of this tree given me is repro- duced here (Fig. 93). The beetle has somewhat varied food, It seems to have, however, a decided preference for apple and plum. I have seen pears sunilarly attacked, but never cherries. The Board of Agriculture Leatlet (No. £9) says also peach, apricot, nectarine and quince. In some cases it seems that the beetles prefer to oviposit in the = smaller branches and twies, which thus [Horace Knight, 4 4 a) FIG. 92, wither and die. The leaves soon show : signs of their presence by wilting, dying later and turning brown; the bark then cracks and eventually BARK BEETLE (Seoldytius rugulosus), peels off. Most cases recorded and seen during the past few years have been attacks on the stems of trees from eight to fifteen years old. In one case the whole stem from five feet above the eround into the branches was riddled with shot loles—the ‘flight holes” of the beetles. Whilst on the smaller boughs and twigs the bark readily cracks and splits off, that on the stem was noticed to remain in its normal position. On removing the bark one tinds that the shot holes lead down through it to the wood, in the soft sappy layer of which the larval seolyti may be seep working and sculpturing galleries, which 112 Insect Pests. run mainly up and down between the bark and wood. From these median chanuels run, on either side, smaller ones, in which the larvee live. There is a popular idea that only sickly or unhealthy trees are attacked. That they are so more than others is very probable, but perfectly sound trees suffer in the saine way. The mere fact that we find Jarvie and pupe in the dying and dead wood does not neces- i sarily show that the ve beetle only attacks such wood. The larve have caused the un- healthy state or have killed the tree them- selves, and have to finish their develop- ment where they have lived. From various ob- servations made, it appears that when once a tree is invaded it forms a centre that attracts the beetles to oviposit, and thusif we only destroy it at the rieht time, we can use these damaged trees as “trap trees” are used in forestry. Both old i and voung trees suffer. r In an old orchard (A. VD. Rintoul, e ara 2 seers [4.1 DP. Rintoul. where trees have never FIG, 93.—PIECE OF PLUM STEM SHOWING ‘* FLIGHT HOLES” ] at de 1] . oe OF BARK BEETLE (S. rugulosis), seen tended, 1t 18 no (One-thivdinatiiarszes unusual thine to see many of the smaller branches and twigs bared of bark and showing up pale against the rest of the wood. This is usually due to this beetle. From these old neglected trees they invade young and sound ones. Lire-Hisrory aNxp Hairs. The beetle that is the cause of this damage is quite small, often no more than 4! gj ich. In colour it is nearly black, with some- Insects Injurious to the Apple. 113 what brown elytra, lees and clubbed anteune. The thorax 18 finely punctate, and the elytra have lines of punctate strive. The Weciies may appear in April and May, hut they certainly more usually occur in June in Kent, and are also said to occur in July. Aauither brood occurs in October; specimeus were bred out from the wood sent by Mr. Lewis Levy in early October in 1906, and some a little later in the year were sent me hy Mr. Furley, from Worcestershire. It thus looks as if we had three broods during the year some extent overlapping. ee ear The beetles bore into the wood to de- posit their eves: they tunnel upwards alone the bark a little way, and then into the bark. They then form a tunnel often nearly an inch lone, between the bark and the wood, the sculpturine being 6 more pronounced on ¢ 4 the latter than the 4 former. These so-called “ mother - A galleries” are almost straight, and pass up the tree, and along their sides the females lay their eggs. The length of the ege stave las not been followed, LF. Edenden. FIG, 94.—WORK OF THE BARK BEETLE (Seolytus rugulosus). A, beetles. (Natural size.) but im a few days small white footless larvie appear, and tunnel outwards from the parent gallery. When mature the larvie pupate at the end of their galleries, often forming a deepened chamber into the wood. The beetles then escape through the bark, and leave behind the innumerable small shot holes. There have been counted some fitty larvee coming from one “parent gallery ”: how many more may occur is not known. The winter seems to be passed mainly in the larval stage under the bark of the trees, and thus damage is done during the whole year. 114 Insect Pests. TREATMENT. Nothing can be done to trees badly attacked. They had best be left as “traps,” and cut down and burned during the winter, or at any time when we know the beetles are not in flight. This must be done not later than the first week in June, and is best done in March, when no beetles have escaped as far as personal observations go. If the destruction at the time all the insects are in the trees was carried out, the loss these little beetles occasion would be much lessened. It is especially important to have old stumps, dying trees, etc., destroyed. Great numbers of these were noticed in 1906 in Worcestershire, and as long as they remain in this useless, slovenly way, so long will young, sound trees, of good fruit- growers in the neighbourhood be damaged; for in flight time these beetles are very strong on the wing, and can fly considerable distances. The dressing of fruit trees to keep off this pest has been frequently referred to. Fletcher (3) mentions that in Canada trees are dressed with soft soap and carbolic acid up to the point where the main branches have their origin in cases of Xyleborus attack. Forbes (4) points out that the application of soap and soda poisoned with arsenic, now used against ordinary borers, if applied to the larger branches as well as the trunk, might be found to check sufficiently the mischief done by this bark beetle. In this country itis the small branches and twigs that are attacked as much as the trunk, and thus dressing is of less value—it sill protect the trunk, but merely drives the beetles higher up, and dressing the whole of a large tree is, of course, very difficult. There need be no great harm done if the diseased trees are destroyed at once to stop the beetles from spreading, and if some persuasive steps could be taken to get neglicent people to destroy the old breeding grounds of this beetle. A pig with swine fever is killed by compulsion, but it does not seem worth while to compel breeding grounds of fruit pests to be destroyed. So long as the many fruit- growers, who excel those of any other country, allow this to go on, so long will they lose trees by this and other pests, and their energies and money will be largely wasted. REFERENCES. (1) Theobald, F. V. Report on Economic Zoology for the year ending April Ist, 1907, p. 17 (1907). Insects Injurious to the Apple. 115 (2) Ormerod, EH, A. ‘Handbook of Insects Injurious to Orchard and Bush Fruits,’ p. 197 (1898). (3) Fletcher, J. Report of the Entomologist and Botanist, 1897, p. 200 (1900). Ann. Rep. Exp. Stations, (1907). (4) Forbes, S.A. Bull. 4. Office of the State Entomologist of Illinois, p. 75 (1890). BEETLES IN FRUIT BLOSSOM. Many inquiries have been received concerning the economy of beetles found in the open apple and other fruit blossom.* The most important species sent have been the Pea and Bean Weevil (Sitones lineata), the Mustard Blossom Beetle (Mcligethes nevus) and the Flea Beetles (Phyllotreta nemorum and Huitiea oleracet). Mr. Bickham of Ledbury sent Pea and Bean Weevils in April 1906, stating that they were very numerous in parts of Hereford- shire, in the crowns of strawberry plants, and later they were noticed in the blossom. Both at Mr. Bickham’s and at Mr. Riley’s, Putley Court, numbers could be found in the crowns of almost every straw- berry plant. No damage has been noticed in the blossom or leaf of strawberries, when they have been present, as they often are in the early part of the year. It appears that they merely go there for shelter. They have been sent from the same county and Kent from apple blossom, but although occurring in numbers no damage could be traced to them. From Herefordshire I also received inquiries about Jleligethes in apple blossom. One correspondent wrote stating that they occurred in thousands in his plantations. The beetles are described as crawling right down to the base of the pistil and stamens. The grower stated “ that some of the pistils had been killed by frost some days ago, so I cannot tell whether all the blossoms which show the black pistil have been killed by the frost or by the beetles. So far as I can see, by looking down into the blossoms without disturbing them, the beetles appear to be merely feasting on the sweet liquid at the base of the pistil. I noticed the beetles in another plantation in the apple blossoms, but not to the same extent.” A series of observations were made at Wye concerning this question, as these small beetles were also abundant in apple blossom in that neighbourhood. The blossom of almost all varieties was * Report on Economic Zoology for the year ending April 1st, 1907, p. 84. F, V. Theobald, etc. 12 116. Insect Pests. noticed to be much bitten in small holes and it was thought that the Meligethes were the cause. Numbers were collected and kept in cages with a supply of open and opening blossom tufts, but in no case was any harm caused by the beetles. Similar observations were made in the College orchards and the same conclusion arrived at. The beetles were feeding upon both the pollen and the liquid. It is thus possible that they may cause some slight loss by feeding on the former, but at the same time they fly from blossom to blossom and, as was observed, carry the pollen with them, and so do as much good in fertilisation as the bees. It was feared that they might work in the same way as this species does in mustard and other cruciferous plants, but such has not proved to be the case. The Mustard Blossom Beetle (Aeligethes wneus) lays its eggs in the blossom buds of mustard, and the larvee which hatch from them feed upon the various parts of the flowers, especially at the base. They also attack the flower stalks and even the young pods, and when mature fall to the ground to pupate, just under the soil. Miss Ormerod also noticed that the beetles fed entirely on the pollen of plants of the cabbage kind. The maggots feed at the base of the blossom of crucifers, but prolonged search did not reveal any in the apple blossom. — : The larvee of these beetles are to be:found in June and early July. The pupal stage is entered about ten days after the larve burrow into the soil. An earthen cell is formed by the larve in which to pupate. Besides Meligethes encus, Mr. C. O. Waterhouse kindly named for me others found in fewer numbers in the apple blossom, including M. picipes. The first-named species (wncus) is 75 inch long and of a dull deep greenish hue. Its eggs are long, bluntly cylindrical and very trans- parent. They take four or five (Miss Ormerod) to eight days to hatch. The maggots reach about 74 inch in length, they are yellowish- white in colour, with a few dull indistinct spots, three pairs of jointed legs in front and an anal proleg; the head is dark and large. The small holes eaten in the blossoms on apple were traced at Wye to the Flea Beetles (Haltica oleracea and Phyllotreta nemorunr). Insects Injurious to the Apple. LG THE TWIG CUTTER. (Rhynehites caruleus, De Geer.) This twig-cutting weevil is undoubtedly the chief eulprit in cutting off the shoots of apple bushes, at least all specimens sent me and all those that I have watched have belonged to this species, kindly identified for me by Mr. Gimmingham of the 8. E. Agriculture College. It was first brought to my notice in 1899 by Mr. F. Smith of Loddington, who pointed out the habits of this “small, shiny, blue beetle” cutting off the shoots of the apple in his plan- tations. Many inquiries have reached me from Kent concerning this weevil. In 1907 it was very abundant in my garden, where it did a great amount of harm to some young trees and also attacked others 15 to 20 years old. The beetles (Fig. 96) are about $ inch long, exclusive of the snout, some ranging up to 24 inch, they are deep blue, shiny, clothed with long, upright fuscous pubescence, antenne, legs and rostrum black or blue black, femora deep blue; thorax longer than broad, with the FIG. 95.—APPLY SHOOT CUT BY TWIG CUTTER. sides almost straivht, coarsely (Rhynehites ewruleus.) punctured; elytra with deep punctured strive, interstices flat with fine punctures, scutellary strice wanting. They appear in spring and may be found crawling over the trees and seem to feed upon the leaves, doing, however, little or no harm. After being fertilised the females commence to deposit their eggs, this they do in the shoots when quite soft. A small hole is first bored by means of the proboscis from two to four inches from the tip of the shoot. In this small hole the female deposits a single oblong (4. V. D. Rintoul. 118 Insect Pests. oval yellow egg. I have never found more than one in each shoot, but according to Kolar this or an allied species (interpunctatus) may place two egas. After doing this the female with energy cuts off the shoot just below where the egg has been laid and it falls to the ground. In many cases kept under observation the top was seen to : be cut only partly through, so that the shoot hangs down as shown in the photograph (Fig. 95). Soon the damaged shoot flags and later falls with ~ the contained maggot or egg to the ground. The curious cut off and blunt shoots are very charac- teristic on attacked trees. The yellow ovum hatches in a few days, and the white footless maggot feeds upon the pith and in a month it FIG. 96. reaches maturity. It then leaves its shelter and THE APLE TWIG cUTTER ~—pypates in the soil, in a small earthen cell. In fae A a dry weather large numbers of them doubtless die, owing to the shoot and pith rapidly shrivelling up. As far as I could observe the pupa remains in the soil until the following spring. The only treatment consists of jarring off the beetles and raking together the fallen shoots and burning them. Only nursery stock and bush trees seem to be attacked. (X 3.) THE ALLIED TWIG CUTTERS. (Rhynchites interpunctutus, Steph.) This small weevil seems to work in a similar way to the previous one. Kollar gives a general description of its working in Germany. Although widely distributed in Britain there are no records of its damaging fruit trees. It is steel blue in colour, the thorax finely punctured and slightly pubescent; elytra with punctate striw, the interstices also furnished with a single row of punctures : antenne, rostrum and legs deep steel IIne; length j!, inch. On the Continent it seems to do serious damage at times. Lihynchites pousillus, Germ, Allied to the two former, but may be told from (iferpuietatus by having a deep central furrow on the thorax and from eari/ens by the presence of scutellary strice. It is recorded by Canon Fowler on various Poiecee, especially the medlar, Insects Injurious to the Apple. 1T9 THE LEAF WEEVILS. (Phyllobius maculicornis, Germ, and P. oblongus, Linn. ete.) The Leaf Weevils are found on all kinds of vegetation, and several species are common to not only many kinds of fruit but also to various forest trees and shrubs. The colours of the weevils are usually shades of brown, clay colour or inetallic greens, some almost golden-green, . Two species are more prominent than others on fruit trees and bushes, namely, the Green Leaf Weevil (Phylobins mneulieornis, Germ.) and the Oblong Leaf Weevil (7°. ublanyus, Linn.). The former species we find feeding on apple, pear, cherry, plun and especially nuts, and it also oceurs on oak, hawthorn, sloe and maple. In colour it is brown, clothed with bright green, bluish- 1 2 3 FIG. 97.—LEAF WEEVILS (Piyllobins), 1, Phiflobiins imaculicornis, 2, P. oblongus. 3, 2. uniforms. (X 3.) green or golden-yellow scales; slightly hairy ; antenniw reddish, with black, club-like apices ; legs black and brown. In length they vary from 3 to nearly } inch. The Oblong Leaf Weevil (Phyllohius oblonyus, Linn.) ix about the same size as the former. The body is black, the elytra covered with dull brown scales, with a reddish tinge or pale grey, the borders dark, almost black, head and thorax covered with grey pubescence and also the elytra; legs brown or yellowish. The damage these beetles do is twofold: first, they nibble the young opening buds; and then, later, they attack the leaves. Several correspondents have written complaining of them in apple blossom, and it seems from some I kept under observation that they gnaw the parts of the blossom and stop the fructification, 120 Insect Pests. Both species occur about the same time, in the beginning of May, and continue until the end of June. They are very active in bright warm weather, but on dull days they remain stationary on the leaves and then can readily be shaken down. They frequently occur in very large numbers in Kent and Sussex, and may be found in most other parts of Britain. One peculiarity I have noticed, and that is, that in certain years they do harm, and that in others, although occurring in great quantities, they seem to cause no apparent damage. The females lay their eggs in the ground and the maggots feed upon roots of various kinds of plants during the winter. The larve are white, footless and curved in form, slightly hairy and with a brown horny head. In spring they change to pupe in the earth and the beetles emerge in May. Ormerod (1) says that grafted plants in nurseries are noted as especially liable to attack. This I have observed during 1908, when considerable damage was done by them in this way in several parts of Kent. Amongst all weevils this form of attack is of common occurrence. PREVENTION AND REMEDIES. The beetles may be collected on dull days by jarring thei off the trees, and this is certainly worth doing where they occur in very large numbers. It is doubtful, anyhow, with our present amount of information, if any treatment for the maggots would be of any avail. On the other hand, I have found that where nuts have been sprayed for caterpillars with arsenate of lead that the beetles were killed, just as Mr. Fred Smith found to be the case with the Nut Weevil. When young grafted stock is affected, it has been found of use to tie grease bands around them and to then jar the beetles off, numbers when crawling back being caught. REFERENCE. (1) Ormerod, E. A. ‘Handbook of Insects Injurious to Orchard and Bush Fruits,’ p. 141-145 (1898). Insects Injurious to the Apple. 121 OTHER BEETLES FEEDING UPON THE APPLE, Rhynchites bacchus, L. Rhynchites cupreus, L. Obrium cantharinam, Le Pogonocherus bidentatus, Thoms. Otiorhynchus picipes, F, Otiorhyncus sulcatus, F. Otiorhynchus tenebricosus, F. Otiorhynchus fuscipes, F. RHYNCHITES BAUCHUS, L. (Purple Apple Weevil).—This weevil is purplish-coppery on the upper surface, covered with long, reddish- brown pubescence. The proboscis is long, curved, carinated at the base, and dark blue in colour; antennew black; elytra broadened at the base, with irregular rows of deep punctures closely rugose between ; legs coppery, tarsi black. Length } to 4 inch. This is a rare species in England, according to Canon Fowler.* This authority records it on the young shoots of the vine, as well as apple. Kollar, on the other hand, expressly states that he has never found it on the vine, but a distinct species. I have taken this species in May upon apple trees in Kent. It is stated to breed at midsummer and soon after it places its eggs in the apples by boring holes into them with its rostrum, and there placing three or four eggs. The larva is white and footless, with a black head, and comes from the egg, according to Kollar, in a few days. It then burrows to the core, and on to the outside, very similarly to the Codling Maggot (C. pomonella). Maturity is reached in four weeks. Pupation takes place in the ground, the pupa remaining there until the following spring. Some weevil larvee were sent me in 1886 from Kent in the interior of apples; whether they belonged to this species I cannot say. The larvee answered to the description given by Kollar. R. cupreus, L. (the Copper-coloured Weevil).—Purple-zneous, dull, finely pubescent; ventrally metallic-black; head long and thickly punctured ; rostrum stout, sulcate at base. Thorax punctate, with smooth central line; scutellum large. Elytra with deeply punctate striz ; legs brassy-black, tarsi black; length } inch. Le- corded by Canon Fowler on apple blossoms. It is also recorded by Kollar in the fruit of the plum. The beetle lays a single egg in the plum, and then cuts the plum off, so that it falls to the ground with the enclosed egg, or else cuts the petiole nearly through, and lets the * «British Coleoptera,’ vol. V., pp. 128, 124. 122 Insect Pests. wind break it off. The description of an attack very similar to this by a weevil was sent me some years ago from Surrey, and as the imagines are found on apple, it is possible it may have been due to them. OBRIUM CANTHARINCY, L. (/errugineum, F.).—This species is found in the bark of apple trees, but is rare. It is an elegant beetle about 2 inch in length; it is elongate, of a pale reddish-brown colour, with dark brown antennee and legs; eyes very large and black, wider than the thorax; antenne much longer than body; elytra depressed and punctured. According to Dr. Power, who bred them from aspen, the beetles kept on coming out from the same piece of wood for three years. PoGONOCHERUS BIDENTATUS, Thoms.—Also found under the bark of decaying apple and pear trees. This is a fuscous beetle, variegated with white, and ligher or darker brown pubescence ; base of antennal joints white; elytra narrowed at the apex, which is broad and biden- tate, scutellum clothed with white pubescence ; at the base of the elytra is a broad band of white pubescence, a little cloud at the shoulder, and in the middle, extending from the base over nearly half their surface, between this and the apex, are several black spots of hair ; legs dark, variegated with red, more or less pubescent. According to Canon Fowler, from whose work the description of the beetle is given, it is local, but not uncommon in many districts. I have never met with the species myself, and do not think it has ever occasioned any harm. THE APPLE SAWFLY. (Hoplocampa testudinea. Klug.) The Apple Sawfly is very persistent in some districts of Britain, To some extent its method of working resembles that of the Codling Moth, so much so that it has often been confused with it. It has been known as injurious since 1847, when Westwood (1) described an attack from personal observations. The insect was first described by Klug (Berl. Mag. viii. 60.30). Ormerod refers to it in her little handbook on Orchard and Bush Fruit Pests (2). The larve can at once be told from those of the Codling Moth by the presence of six Insects Injurious to the Apple. 123 pairs of sucker feet, exclusive of the anal pair, and by their dull creamy-white appearance, The damage to the interior of the fruits is very different from that of the Codling Moth. ‘The sawfly larvee eat ont large cavities in the centre of the apple, and there is always a circular opening to the exterior even when the larva are quite small. The damage in the young fruit checks the erowth and it soon falls, the larva: entering fresh fruitlets; when more mature fruit is attacked the whole of the interior is eaten out (Fie. 98) and a larve black wet cavity is formed. One or more larvie may be found in the same - (| f. Bdenden, FIG, OS. —APPLES EATEN OUT BY APPLE SAWELY. The one on right shows exit hole of larva. apple. The larvie enter the fruit from the first infected fruitlet at any part of its surface, very frequently they eat alone the surface first and then enter or they may pass on to the next fruitlet. The mark shown in Fig. 99 is due to this habit of the sawfly larva, and much disficures and often deforms the apples. Itisa widely distributed insect, but only locally common. So far it hag been recorded from Surrey, Kent, Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Nottinghamshire, Lincolushire, Middlesex, Huntingdonshire, Hereford- shire, and Lancashire, Manchester. Westwood (1) described an attack at Hammersmith. 124 Insect Pests. Lire-History anp Hanits. The female sawfly is reddish-yellow with a black patch on the head, and another on the thorax: the dorsum of the abdomen black ; the head and mid division of the thorax minutely punctured ; the reddish-yellow antenni are dusky in the middle. The legs yellowish- red ; wings transparent, somewhat iridescent with brown rims and dark stigma, except at its end nearest the apex of the wing, where it is yellow. The female is from 4 to nearly } inch long, the male very slightly smaller. . The adult appears in spring about the time the apple blossom is (FL Edenden. FIG, 99.—APPLE SHOWING SCAR FORMED BY APPLE SAWFLY ON YOUNG FRUIT, WHICH THE MAGGOT FAILED TO ENTER.. bursting. The date varies from the end of April until the middle of May. The females may be easily taken on bright days sitting on the blossom, where they lay their eges. The ova are Jaid down below the calyx, seldom more than one ege to each blossom, but several larvee have been found in one fruitlet. It appears that they lay their ova between 9 and 2 o'clock, and then on bright days only, The egg stage varies in length, it may take eight days or it may be two weeks in incubating, Insects Injurvous to the Apple. 125 Under certain conditions a second brood may appear, but such seems to be very unusual. ia hl Bes vp ATe eraanvw—ewhit . A ere . The larvie are creamy-white, erub-like creatures, with a dark 9) FIG, 100,—SAW OF A FEMALE SAWFLY, (Greatly enlarged.) brown head and a double black chitinous plate on the upper surface of the anal segment. When mature they reach $ inch in length. On the first three segments are six jointed legs, on the fifth to the tenth are pairs of sucker feet, and on the last segment another pair of sucker feet. These larvie burrow into the fruitlets and eat out large cavities, often attacking apples when they are no larger than cob nuts. Each of these large irregular chambers communicates with the exterior by a small round hole which is usually noticed on the side or near the eye of the apple. Out of this opening one frequently finds “frass” and much moisture exuding. Attacked fruitlets can be seen on a tree long before they fall. The larvee may be found of all sizes in June and early July. Vossibly two broods over- lap (8). The leneth of larval lite de eee : ; a .—THE APPLE SAWFLY. seems to vary, some mature in four Ew anitalcoeaieonlared) weeks, others take five weeks or more. It the fruitlet is destroyed before the larva is mature it moves to another. When attack is early, and the fruitlets small, five or more may be damaged by each larva. When mature, the larvie [L. Edenden. 126 Insect Pests. fall to the ground and bury themselves in it from one up to four inches deep. The pupa is encased in a small dull yellowish cocoon coated with grains of earth outside. Larvee which were noticed to fall at the end of May had pupated by the 13th of June, and flies appeared on the 7th of July. This was the second generation, and these were found to attack larger apples in July and August. Larvee were once found on the 3rd of September. This is evidently very unusual. Very few are found after mid July and most seem to pupate well before then. Winter is passed in the larval stage in the soil, pupation not taking place until the spring. It is said by some observers that the larve tall with the fruit, but by far the larger number have been found to fall from it. One fact noticed in 1906 and 1907 was, that many of the attacked fruitlets hold on to the trees through the winter, being readily told from the mummified fruits of Jonelia by the round holes in them. PREVENTION AND TREATMENT. Little can be done when fruit is once struck, but as we know they move from apple to apple, hand-picking the infested fruitlets is worth doing when we see the attack. Spraying with arsenate of lead paste to kill the larvee as they move from fruitlet to fruitlet has proved of no avail. Some good has resulted by well working the land in spring and giving a dressing of kainit, but it cannot be called a definite preventive. The best results have been obtained by injecting bisulphide of carbon into the soil at the rate of + oz. to each tree in eight injections by means of the Vermorel Injector. Removal of surface soil is, of course, successful, and where a few trees only are invaded is worth doing, but it could not be done in a plantation well attacked. Possibly the sawflies may be trapped by sweet baits, but until much further experiments have been conducted all we can rely on is hand-picking and destruction of the fruitlets in early attacks. Further trials of bisulphide injections should be inade. Fortunately this pest seems to work only on bush trees. REFERENCES. (1) Westwood, J. O. Gardeners’ Chronicle, p. 851 (1848). (2) Ormerod, H. A. ‘Handbook of Insects Injurious to Orchard and Bush Fruits,’ p. 85 (1898). (3) Theobald, F. V. The Apple Sawfly, Board of Agriculture Journal, p. 183 (Sept. 1901). Insects Injurious to the Aqple. 127 AN EMPHYTUS SP.?- ATTACKING THE APPLE. A single case only of this insect attack has been broueht to my notice, and I can find no reference to it in literature.* =A well- + i r "2, Tar fe i. 1 Be Res Pe . bd know n grower, Mr. H. F. Gettine of Ashfield Park, Ross, wrote in TA ypoe 6 rae atapf 7: c: November: “I was startled to find a aumber of my young apple trees witb a round hole in the top of Just year’s growth (é.c., where branches were pruned to), On examination I found that oreen caterpillars were doing the damage. This is quite new to me, and I am afraid may be a serious pest.” The culprit proved to be one of the Sawtlies belonging to the genus Liiphytus. ; The larvie enter the pith cavities to pupate, and in doing so they 5 Ue VW. Pheobald, FIG, 102.—LARVA OF THE APPLE EMPHYTUS (Hinphutus sp. 7). e, larva fu sities b. entrance of tunnel; @, excrement. may he the cause of much damage, as many of them seemed to bore down below the point of origin of the side shoot, and this not only weakens its growth, but may destroy it entirely. Mr. Getting noticed that they preferred to attack the main shoot, doubtless owing to the pith cavity being larger. Their presence may easily he detected by the “frass” and granular pith thrown out, which collects on the pruned surface as a fine dust (Pig. 102 «). My. Getting’s further observations are as follows: “ After it has made the hole sufficiently deep, it turns round with its head towards * The following account is taken from my Report on Econonuc Zoology for the year ending April Ist, 1905. 128 Insect Pests. the oe and then commences to make at the top of the hole (or 74 to 1 inch below the top) a covering of the dust, bad apparently some hati: I also found one crawling along a branch. The genus Emphytus, to which this pest belongs, has thirteen representatives in Britain. The larve are all sormemnat similar, being greenish on the back, paler at the sides, and sometimes covered with a white powder. No definite cocoon is formed. Most bore, as described above, into the stems of plants to pupate. For this purpose rosaceous plants are mostly sought after. A few, however, are found on the oak, birch and willow, and on Geranium robertianum. J think there is no doubt that the species attacking the apple in Herefordshire was the Hmphytus carpini of Hartig, as the larva most closely approaches the description of that insect. The mature larve (Fig. 102) I examined varied from 3 inch to a little more in length. In colour the dorsum varied from rich deep apple- green to dull olive-green. The sides and venter much paler, varying from dull greenish-white to pale yellowish-green, a few pale spines on the back of the segments; the spiracles black with a pale area around them, Head, deep brown to almost black above, paler beneath. The true legs pale, with deep brown apices; the seven pairs of prolegs the same colour as the venter. When taken from their chambers, the larvee curl themselves up in the characteristic manner of their genus. The last two or three abdominal segments are paler than the rest, but darken to the same colour during the winter. The young larva is said to be pale, dirty olive-green above, and the posterior segments are seen to be clearer than the rest. They remained in the larval stage until the end of March, and then changed into pallid pupe. Emphytus carpint is a common English and Scotch insect. The larvee feed in shady places on Geranium robertianum, also on the mountain ash (Sorbus aucwparia) and hawthorn (2). There are two generations: one in July, August and September, which feed on the radical leaves; the second in October and November, and which feed on the other leaves, eating them down to the thick mid rib. They feed on the lower surface, The adult fly is black and shiny, the legs mostly white, but there is black on the middle of the femora, on the apex of the hind tibiee ; the hind tarsi and the fore and mid tarsi dusky. Length } inch, The only other species it might be is Bmphytus sinliis Linneus, whose larvee feed on the common rose, eating the leaves along the edges. Those from the apple differ, however, in not having the Insects Injurious to the Apple. 129 thoracic region thickened as we notice in the rose feeder. The latter pupate in the rose stems and occur in larval form from July to October. Since the above Report was drawn up (2), the Z. cinctus has been compared with the apple species and found to be distinct. REFERENCES. (1) Cameron, P. ‘Phytophagous Hymenoptera,’ vol. I., p. 278 (1882). (2) Theobald, F. V. Report on Economic Zoology for the year ending April Ist, 1905, pp. 16-18 (1905). WASPS. ( Vespide.) ‘Wasps are a general cause of annoyance. They attack all kinds of fruits and spoil them. The soft plums are no more attacked than the hardest cooking apples. The loss in the former is perhaps the greatest, but the manner of attack in the latter is the most inte- resting. In 1887, 1892 and 1893, and in 1900, and again in 1903, quite a number of complaints were made about wasp damage to apples. From near St. Neots, Huntingdonshiie, Mr. Murfin sent, in 1900, a number of apples which had been completely hollowed out by wasps; the skins had dried and remained on the trees. These specimens are to be seen in the Gallery of Economic Zoology in the British Museum, South Kensington, which has never been completed owing to lack of funds. Two species of wasps are the main culprits on fruit, namely, the Common Wasp (Vespa vulgaris) and the Tree Wasp (Vespa sylvestris), and two others I have found now and again injuring fruits, namely, Vespa germanica and Vespa rufa. In Scotland a tree wasp (Vespa norwegica, Fab.) is also somewhat harmful. Possibly others of our seven British wasps may do harm, but no records have been sent me and it is extremely unlikely that one, the Hornet (Vespa crabro), attacks fruit. The life-history of wasps can be found in any book on Natural History, so need not be referred to here. DESTRUCTION OF WASPS. This again scarcely needs to be mentioned. Any labourer or gardener will find the nest op the ground, and each has his special K 130 Insect Pests. way of getting rid ‘of them. Some use sulphur, some gunpowder, and then dig them out; perhaps these are the best ways. Experience has shown that cyanide of potassium is no better than the old country methods. ; One point only may perhaps be worth drawing attention to, and that is, that we must keep a look-out for the so-called arboreal builders. The Vespa sylvestris and V. norwegica form their beautiful hanging nests in trees, shrubs, even in kale-pots; these must be sought for and destroyed with the ground-wasp nests. The best plan seems to be to mark them in daytime and burn them down with a paraffin torch at night. Wasps do much harm in vineries; there they may be kept out by seeing all openings and opened windows are covered with wasp netting. This may be improved on in vineries by using muslin, so as to exclude the grape fly at the same time. It is certainly advantageous, by offering small rewards, to have all the queen wasps destroyed carly in the year. THE APPLE APHIDES. (Aphis pont, De Geer, Aphis sorbi, Kaltenbach, phis fitchii, Sanderson.) At least three true aphides are abundant on the apple in Great Britain, damaging the foliage, also deforming the shoots and spoiling the fruit.* A bad attack took place during 1904 in Britain of these Apple Aphides. Scarcely a fruit-growing district was free from these pests, and in many orchards the leaves were so hopelessly curled that washing was of no avail whatever. Feeding not only on the leaves and blossoms, but on the young shoots, they distort them to a serious extent, as shown in the photograph (Fig. 104). In one instance on two trees kept under observation, it was found that the aphis lessened the growth of certain shoots by 70 per cent., and a few shoots died right back (Fig. 103). The great importance of these insects led me to investigate their life-history, which has not been done de novo in this country. The result (1) has been so far satisfactory in that it has shown when these fruit pests are most vulnerable to attack and when we can follow that excellent adage : “‘ Prevention is better than cure.” What * The Apple Aphides have been wrongly treated by Ormerod, Whitehead, etc., as a single species, Aphis mali, Fabricius. Insects Injurious to the Apple. 131 physiological changes take place in the attacked shoots and leaves have never been Investigated. Why the leaves should, as is fre- quently noticed, hang on the trees instead of talline normally, has not been explained. This is a very marked character in trees thit have been infested with stp/is poms, De Geer, (i. Edenden. FIG, 103, —APPLE SHOOT DESTROYED BY Aylis ponti. With a few exceptions the chief aphides on apple trees have been seen to belong to three species, Aphis pom, De Geer,* [plas * This has usually been known as Aphis mali, Fabricius 1775, bub De Geer had previously described it as Aphis pomé in 1773. K 2 132 Insect Pests. . ca ATE -nANntic fitchii, Sanderson, and Aphis sorbi, Kaltenbach. The exceptions were in a tree where a few Aphis pruni had taken up their abode, and a few on which another doubtful species occurred. a Lh. Edenden, FIG. 104.—DAMAGE TO APPLE SHOOTS BY APHIS. The three left-hand shoots damaged by Aphis poms, the right-hand one normal. Casual specimens of other kinds may occur, but they do not breed on the apple. Insects Injurious to the Apple. 133 The Permanent Apple Aphis. (lphis pomi, De Geer= Ll, mui, Fabricius.) The Lire-History is as follows, The eges hatch late in April. The eges are elonvated, oval, shiny black bodies placed sometimes at the base of the buds or the axils of the old leaves, but usually on the shoots. Many occur tovether, usually large numbers on one shoot, They are undoubtedly mostly laid on the young shoots amonyst the hairs (Fie. 105), The larvie or lice are very slugeish at first, deep ereen or yellow. They grow but slowly, and are ready by the time the leaves are com- pletely open to commence attack. The larva casts its skin three times, and becomes the apterous viviparous female. This female shelters under the leaves, which she punctures, and the result is the punctured area curls up. This first female or “stem mother” is greenish to ereenish- grey, much mottled with yellow- ish, globular in form, and has a small spine on each edge of the abdominal segments, and lone, black, straight, tapering corni- cles; the antenne are yellowish basally, dark apically; the legs are yellowish-green, the knees, tips of the tibie and tarsi dark brown. Frequently I have noticed a mealy coating over this so- called “mother-queen.” She soon commences to produce living young, which mature rapidly in warm, dry weather, and canse the leaves to curl up with remarkable rapidity. The progeny from the “ mother-queen,” according to Buckton (2), have a variety of colours, “as bright green, yelowish, ferruyinous red or brown.” Frequent observations on this aphis in Kent, Cam- bridgeshire, Surrey and Huntingdonshire, during the last twenty years by myself, only resulted in finding a dull reddish variety, which appeared to be a dimorphic form. Jecent observations have, low- ever, shown this to be incorrect, more than one species occurring on the sane tree. The true Aphis pom: of De Geer is always green or bright yellowish-green. The young from the “stem other,” which are produced alive, are also green with two dark spots on the head and dusky and green legs. (FP. Bdenden. Fig. 105.—0VA OF APPLE APHIS (A phe: pom). 134 Insect Pests. The mature viviparous females into which the lice turn, have pale yellowish-green abdomen with darker green lines and_ sides, X ra FIG. 105.—APPLE APHIDES. 1. Aphis gitehit, 2. A. sorbi, 3. A. poi. All oviparous females. (Partly after Sanderson.) cornicles long and dark, sometimes a faint yellow spot at the base of each cornicle and an indistinct band connecting them. These lice aud apterous viviparous females curl up the leaves, and feed not only upon them, but also upon the young and tender shoots. The majority are found, not only covered with a orey meal, but also with numerous oil globules interspersed between thei. In July and August, many of the Lee turn to pupe. The pup are greenish-yellow, some having darker green stripes, and the wing buds and the cornicles yellow with dark apices, and, like the apterous females and lice, are covered with a mealy powder. From these pupe winged viviparous females appear in July and August. A few may be seen some vears in June. The winged female has a deep greenish- brown head, the thorax brownish-blaek, pro- thorax paler; the abdomen deep green with three black spots on each side. The antennze IPE. vellowish-brown with dusky joints, and HG. 107. Aphis sorbi, ovtparous dark cornicles. The legs pale green with FEMALE. YOUNG STAGE, = = dusky tarsi, and tips of tibiwe and knees. These winged females are viviparous, and fly or are carried hy the wind fromm tree to tree and orchard to orchard. These set up Insects Injurious to the Apple. 135 fresh colonies, and so the increase goes on until late in the autumn. During this time, many leaves dry up and their curled forin encloses many of the dolphins, which are apparently thus killed. Late in the autumn a progeny of wingless males and females occu, The female is very small, often Jittle more than 145 a. long, varying in colour from dull yellowish-green to green, lead shehtly brownish, with two dark spots; antennw pale at the base, dusky apically, legs pale green, except the apical portion of the tibie, the tarsi and knees, which ave brown; cornicles black, straight, tapering; genitalin dusky with two dark spots in fret, some show paler sides and are darker green according to thei age. A They are closely attached to the underside of the apple leaves. Most occur close against a vib or vein of the Ivaf At the same time small wingless males appear. These are often not iore than one-fifth the size of the autumn oviparous females. Unlike most male aphides, it has a longish proboseis, nearly reaching to the second abdominal segment and which is black in colour; it has rather long dark brown Jegs. In colour, the male varies from vellowish- brown to dull yellowish, with dark head, long blackish antennw ; cornicles and apex of body black, the former straight. These sexual forms were noticed last year first on the 27th of October, and on until the Tth of December. The females commence: to deposit eggs carly in November and con- i st i e P em aa z ees PIG, 10S. —YOUNG AVHIDES JUST tinued to do so for over a month. Most Son, Aue eNngis SEO placed their black ova on the shoots, a few BUD. at the base of buds, and the axils of twigs. [POE As many as three hundred eges inay be found on one shoot. The ova remain all the winter; aud can then easily be seen by their shiny shells. Great munbers of these eggs shrivel up. These are infertile ones. It is these sterile ova that are thought to have been killed by various winter washes. This species, in company with Aphis sorbi, curls the leaves, hut does not attack the blossom. This aphis occurs in Ireland as well as England, Carpenter (5), recording it from County Tyrone. 136 Insect Pests. The Rosy Apple Aphis. (Aphis sorbi. Kaltenbach. ) This species is often found with Aphis pomi, and is frequently confused with it even by authorities such as Buckton, whose figure of the apterous viviparous Aphis mali (pont) is really this insect. It works in a similar way to the former, but seems to curl up the leaves more tightly, and to give them a blistered appearance, the attacked portions often having a rosy and pallid hue. Unlike 4. pon, it does not pass all the year on the apple, for in June and early July it migrates from the apples and comes back again in the autumn. To what plant they migrate is not yet known. They have been found on the haw- thorn (Crategus oxycantha), the pear and on Sorbus auenparia, Sorbus domesticus and Sorbus torminalis. I have frequently found it on the hawthorn, but at the same time as when observed on the apple. een In colour it is subject FIG. 109.— STEM MOTHER” (VIVIPAROUS FEMALE) to much variation, unlike or Aphis sorbi, KALI. A. pomi and A. fitehit. The “stem mother,” or apterous viviparous female, is at first mottled with green and yellow, laterally bluish, with a rusty tinge around the bases of the cornicles, but she gradually becomes dull bluish to black or slaty-erey, or purple, covered with meal; in form this stage is globular. The larve vary but are usually yellowish-green, mottled with yellowish, head pale, cornicles blackish and_ legs blackish, becoming bluish at the sides with pale yellowish bases. The aplerous viviparous females are smaller than the stem mother,, rusty red to almost pink, with brown marks on the sides of the abdomen and on the thorax; tapering cornicles, dusky at the apices, yellow at their base; later they become dusky purplish-black, dusky red basally and covered with white meal. The pupa varies from (Greatly enlarged.) Insects Injurious to the A pyle. 137 yellowish-red to pink, wing buds paler with dusky apices, also mealy, Winged viviparous female with black thorax, yellowish-red abdo- men; cornicles black ; legs with pale bases and tibiw and also pale around the base of the cornicles. The autnumn form has deep black head and thorax, reddish-brown abdomen with a dusky central area and a dark band between the cornicles. Strneturally this autumn form differs from the spring in having no tubereles on the head, and on the seventh aud eighth abdominal segments, The oviprrous female is pale lemon- yellow with dusky head, eyes, antenniv and tarsi. The w/e is winged, and has a ereenish abdomen marked with black anda dark thorax and narrower than the winged female. This species hatches about the same time as 4. frtchii, that is, somewhat earlier than ft. pom. Two or three broods LEE. S38 AeiAS FIG. 110.—Aphis sorbi, LARVA cecur, aud then they leave the apple, flying Fat RCS RAE. apparently to a new food plant. They (Greatly enlarged.) disappear during the last week in June until the second week in July. The autuinn winged females return in September and October and produce a generation of winged males and wingless oviparous females. The latter lay their oval, shiny black eggs either on the spurs, axils of buds, shoots, or on the trunks of the trees. Most, if not all, the aphis eggs found on the trunks belong to this species. In Cambridge some years ago this was the only form I found, and was considered to be the Aphis mali, ie, A. pomi, De Geer. In Kent it is common, and during 1906 did no little harm to the young leaves. The Blossom and Stem Aphis. (Aphis fitechii. Sanderson.) This also bas been taken to be the common Aphis poms ly Ormerod (3), Whitehead (4), and others in Britain. Yet in 1829, Joshua Major (5) clearly pointed out this species as different from the Leaf Curling Aphis. The specific definition of this Blossom Aphis was made by Mr. Dwight Sanderson (6) whose work made me examine the Apple Aphides of this country more closely. This species I found in Kent in all the localities where it was sought for, but did not seem to be more destructive than the two 138 Insect Pests. former. It is also common in Worcestershire, Herefordshire, Devon- shire, and most parts where apples ave grown. It occurs earlier than (F. Edenden. [F. Edenden. FIG. LLL—Aphis fitehii, NYMPH, SHOWING FIG. 112.—Aphis ftehii (VIVIPAROUS EXTRUDING YOUNG, FEMALE), SHOWING LARVAL ICHNEUMON (Greatly enlarged.) WITHIN, either of the former, the young coming from the eggs in April, and feeding upon the developing buds for some time. Later they attack the blossom and were then noticed to do much harm. In 1907 the eges commenced to hatch on the 24th of March. Sanderson found in America that the young became full grown in seven to nine days. Those I kept under observation took twelve days before reaching maturity. Migration takes place in the beginning of June and continues to the end of the month. From this time uutil October, the apple is free from this pest. From the 12th of September winged forms were observed to come back to the apple and egg-laying econ- tinued until the middle of November. These oviparous females deposit a lew cees, mainly in the axils ef the Imds and on the spurs. Just as was a7 noticed hy Walker, winged viviparous Fld, 113.—oveM oF Aphis ftehié nam ix and winged oviparous females oceur BRANCH CREVICE. > bs . together on the same leaves in the autuun, Attacked blossom beeomes browned and dies; leaves are also attacked, but this species does (Greatly enlarged. not seem to curl the leaves in the same way the other two species Insects Injurious to the Apple. 139 do. Young blossom tufts are most attacked, and are seriously damaved. The eplerous viviparous female can at once be told from the ereen pyriforme pom by being more oval and having a darker green area on the dorsum and the cornicles pale brown instead of black, and very short, slightly swollen, and occasionally with a rusty basal spot. The wiiyed viriparous femule las the abdomen green, and short, light brown, swollen cornicles, and the wings different. [E. Edenden. FIG, 114.—A phis fitchii ON APPLE SHoot, The oriparous femele is green, with short swollen cornicles, which are light brown, whilst a rusty red spot occurs at their base. The male is winged and so can be easily told from the male pomi, and from the winged male sorli by the greener colour and dusky transverse markings and shorter cornicles. This species in all its stages can at once be told from the Apis pomi ly the shorter and thicker cornicles. The intermediate food plant has not been definitely traced in this country. Suggestions have been made in America that they go to rasses and wheat. Search in this country failed to reveal any on corn o o 140 Insect Pests. plants, although the Aphis fitehit produced young artificially on Meadow Foxtail, and was found on other grasses. This bears out what we see is said to occur in America and explains their sudden departure from the apples and Jater return. PREVENTION AND TREATMENT OF APPLE APHIDES. The inquiries received regarding treatment come from all parts of the country. Many growers say washing with parattin emulsion is of little use. This is certainly true, as the ova of any one species [ find hatch very unevenly, and the result is, many lice have damaged buds and blossom and curled leaves, whilst others are coming out, and thus a certain number escape the wash. If we wash as soon as they begin to hatch it is no good unless we are prepared to go on every day for perhaps several weeks, an impossible process. Only a penetrative wash will vet into the lice pro- rected by curled leaves. After many experiments I eventually have come to the conclusion the most vulner- able time in the life-history of these plant lice is when in the sexual stage in the autumn. When we find the small wingless or winged sexual forms under the leaves is the time to kill them. At this time a heavy Ue paraffin emulsion may be used, as the leaves le eae ave of little value and it does not matter if we burn them. The Apple Aphides are then killed hefore they lay their eggs, and their future attack is guarded against. The emulsion must not be put on with much force, as the leaves may be knocked off. The tree should have a good spraying, and the eround below well wetted and also the trunk, the oviparous females will then be killed. I am confident that eufwmual spraying for these pests is most essential. If it is more troublesome it does vood, and the usual spraying when the leaves are curled is often waste of time and money, especially where we have more than one kind of aphis at work. For the attack of Aphis fitehii, early spraying is, of course, of use, as this species feeds openly, but not for pow? and sorbi, which curl up the leaves as soon as they open. When the leaves are ewled the best wash to use is the tobacco wash. All prunines should be rigorously bunt before March. Many eges are thereby destroyed. Ah. Bear of Magham Down, Hailsham, wrote me on the 15th of (Greatly enlarged.) Insects Injurious to the Apple. 141 June, 1906, that he was having “the curled leaves stripped off the shoots affected, in the case of apple trees, to prevent spreading, as spraying would not touch a tenth part of them, as they are inside the curled leaves.” This seems a tedious affair, but, no doubt, is a very wise one, when one looks over the plantation in the winter, and sees the enormous harm these apple aphides have done. In Nova Scotia(7) growers have been experimenting with thick lime and salt wash similar to the Chapman wash recommended for Apple Sucker and Plum Aphis. The effect of this treatment on Apple Aphis eggs has been far from satisfactory. The wash will not hold sufficiently firmly on the young shoots where the eggs are mostly placed to prevent the egress of the young aphides. REFERENCES. (1) Theobald, F. V. Report on Economic Zoology for the year ending April 1, 1905, pp. 22-83 (1905). (2) Buckton, G. B. ‘ Monograph of British Aphides,’ II., p. 44 (1877). (3) Ormerod, EH. ‘Handbook of Insects Injurious to Orchard and Bush Fruits,’ p. 6 (1898). (4) Whitehead, Sir C. ‘Insects Injurious to Fruit Crops,’ p. 82 (1886). (5) Major, Joshua. ‘A Treatise on the Insects most Prevalent on Fruit Trees,’ etc., p. 9 (1829). (6) Sanderson, Dwight. Thirteenth Annual Report Delaware Coll. Agri. Exp. Sta. (1902). (7) Forty-second Annual Report Nova Scotia Fruit Growers’ Association, 1906, p. 98 (1906). (8) Carpenter, G. H. Economic Proceedings Royal Dublin Society, vol. I., pt. 6, p. 801 (1905). THE WOOLLY APHIS. (Schizoneura lanigera. Hausmann.) The persistent increase of this aphis during the last few years in most of the fruit centres of Britain makes it imperative that growers should take steps to check its increase in their plantations. Of still greater importance is it for nurserymen to see that the stock they send out is free from this insect. During the past few years com- munications have been sent me by several growers, stating that they have introduced this insect with purchased stock. One correspondent, writing from Liscard, Cheshire, says: “I have been buying apple trees from various nurserymen, and have intro- duced American Blight into my orchards, and my gardeners de not seem to be able to check its progress.” 142 Insect Pests. Many such quotations could be made from letters received from correspondents. FIG, 116.—A BAD AND OLD-STANDING ATTACK OF WOOLLY APHIS. No nurserymen of any standing would dream of sendine out apple trees infested with this “blight.” T have seen in many cases how carefully they go over the nurseries with hand labour, painting Insects Injurious to the Apple. 143 any patches with methylated spirit, and yet they send out infected stock. The reason is obyious: they either do not know or discard the presence of Schizoneura lanigera on the roots. The complete life- history of this apple enemy is well known, but this knowiedge is not sufficiently widespread to bear any fruitful results, So numerous have been inquiries concerning this pest during the last few years, that it is thought that a somewhat fuller account than usual of its life-history should he civen here, together with an account of some recent experiments carried out in connection with its prevention and treatment. The area over which it occurs may be but Iviefly mentioned ; L414. 1. D. Rintoul. FIG. 117.—WoOoOLLY APHIS ON THE SUCKERS AND SHOOTS OF AN OLD APPLE TREE. enough to say that wherever apples are grown, the blight also is found. At one time it seemed to be mainly prevalent in the old west- country orchards in Britain, especially amongst the somewhat ill-kept cider apples. Now we find it just as bad in young plantatious of the best varieties all over the country. It is perhaps most abundant in Worcestershire, and in the Devon orchards, but in all other centres it is an important and increasing enemy. It hag been reported to me, or observed in all parts of Kent. 144 Insect Pests. It is most abundant in Surrey. A correspondent, writing from Woking, states that he is much troubled with it, and that he had used lots of mixtures and kept brushing in summer, but without success. Recently I learn that this nurseryman is coping with the root form. Numerous inquiries have come from Cambridgeshire, Huntingdonshire, Norfolk, Suffolk, Cheshire, Yorkshire, Sussex, Hampshire and Oxfordshire. In Wales I have found it in abundance amongst young trees imported from the Midlands at Criccieth, also at Carnarvon and Bangor; in Monmouthshire it was noticed in some gardens. This record of locali- ties could be still further increased. 3esides being known under the popular name of Woolly Aphis, it is frequently spoken of as “ American Blight.” The reason for this is difficult to understand, for it 1s undoubt- edly European, and we are also equally certain that it was introduced into America, just as it has been into Africa and Australasia, with imported stock. It attacks practically all varieties of apples in this country. In Australia (5 and 6) it is found that apples orafted on Northern Spy and FIG. 118.—WOOLLY APHIS AND GALLED AREA Majetin stocks do ay suffer PRODUCED BY IP. from the ground form, and these are now solely used for this purpose. Mr. Lounsbury, Government Biologist at the Cape, tells me that no apples unless on these stocks are allowed to be (BP. Bdenden. imported into Cape Colony, and that their iv ud to be the same there as elsewhere. The “ May A ‘une in Cape Colony (9). This is a very importa. f these stocks are used in this country. Nurseryme., e spoken to about the subject have expressed their opin wiversely, but I am not aware that anyone has tried thein in this country, and until this is done one must naturally believe not only what such great experts as Mr. French, the Government Entomologist of Victoria, Insects Injurious to the Apple. 145 and Mr. Charles Lounsbury state to be a fact, but which fruit-growers of very great skill have proved to be the case in Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. The mere presence on the trunk and boughs is nothing as lone as we can prevent its occurrence below ground. The damage caused by the Woolly Aphis is particularly severe to young stock, but old trees also suffer in two ways. First, the aphides lessen the vitality of the tree by constantly sucking out the sap; secondly, by the wounds caused by their punctures on young wood, they cause an abnormal erowth of soft tissue, which forms rounded swellines, so very characteristic of Woolly Aphis presence (Fig. 119). These swellings split later on, and from them arise those large rugose deformities, so often put down to “canker.” At the same time they cause similar damage on the roots, but the swollen gall-like erowths that they produce do not necessarily split in the way we find above ground (Fig. 118). In these two ways the life of the tree is gradually sapped, and not infrequently young trees die under this rough usage. In any case stunted deformed trees result, and but scanty and poor quality fruit is borne by the trees. But there is a third way, I feel certain, in which this Woolly Aphis works injuriously. After keeping records during the past twenty years, I find that in nearly all cases trees infested with canker have or have had Woolly Aphis attacking them. During the summer of 1905 (PE. two trees (Worcester Pearmain and a Russet), rie. 119—wanny srace which were perfectly clean, were infected with 5 dari ces acer Woolly Aphis; next year both were attacked by canker. © «to them not attacked by the Schizonewia is still clea The at indirectly this aphis, by causing wounds of greates uy other species on the apple, predisposes the trees to the iu._, | -nemy, for which we have no known remedy. The importance of knowing the life-history is therefore very great, for it is only by so doing that we can learn how, when and where to apply any satisfactory treatment. 146 Insect Pests. The effect of weather on this Schizoneura is nil. It will be just as bad in a wet, cold, as ina warm, dry season. It has been found in this country reproducing on some old trees two days after hard frost and snow, with the temperature down to 17° F. The quantity of wool, the habit of secreting itself in any crevice of bark, or amongst lichens and moss, all tend to protect it. Besides apples, it now and again will attack pears, but such is certainly very unusual in this country. Notes have been sent a few times of its presence on perry pears, but I have failed to find it myself on that fruit, por have I yet found it on the wild erabs, but it is found on the latter. In very severe attacks in bad years it may not only be found on the trunk, twigs and roots, but also on the leaves, and on several oecasions it lias been detected on fruit, where it has produced discoloration. Lire-History anp Hanirs. The “mother-queen” aphis is oval in form, of various shades of purplish-brown ; antenne and legs dark reddish-brown ; some varieties are rich plum coloured ; all secrete a quantity of white meal from the dorsal glands. These “inother-queens” may be found all the year. Usually they seek shelter in crevices in the trunk, or in and around the edges of distorted crowths during the winter, as well as below ground on the trunk and on the roots. (WH. Hawmond. This female reproduces viviparously, and the aes a young (lice) crawl about at first in the wool, and are yellowish in colour. Later these larve or lice may crawl farther from the parent, but as a rule they remain in close company for some time, forming a small colony. After moulting they assume the dull purplish-brown to plum-coloured hue of the parent. It is these viviparously produced youne which secrete the large quantities of wool, which may hang down in great festoons from the YOUNG Woob ATTACKED BY WOOLLY APHIS. branches. These larvee soon commence to produce young like their parents, and this method of reproduction may go on all the summer, Very regularly and very rarely pupe or nymphs arise from the lice during the summer, which give rise to winged Viviparous females. Insects Injurious to the Apple. 147 July to September is said to be the period over which the winged race may occur, On only one occasion have I been able to find the winged form, nor have [ever succeeded in obtainine it artificially. My. Fred Smith of Loddington tells me it sometimes oceurs in the orchards around Maidstone. The winged viviparous female is dusky chocolate-brown with typical Sehizunenra venation to the wings. These females fly from one tree to another, and possibly from orchard to orchard. ‘Chere are no data to show or even give us any idea how far they may traval. The winged females produee living youn or lice similar to those which form tlhe progeny of the “mother-queens,’ and these ¢o on reproducing until late autumn, and I have even known successive broods continue right through the winter. Qn the approach of autumn, a few imales and oviparous females are present. As far as observa- tions carried on over the past twenty years go, I can only say this sexual brood is extremely rare in this country. Twice in twelve years it has occurred on one tree constantly kept under observation, It must not be ignored, how- ever, as the wintering in the eve stage is of economic importance. The wineless oviparous female F FIG. 121.—PIECE OF WILD CRAB APPLE is very small, and may well escape APPACKED BY WOOLLY APHIS. observation. In colour she is dull reddish-yellow, in size no less than 003 inch. The wingless male is, like the oviparous female, quite destitute of a mouth. This sexual female deposits a single ege and dies, her dead body forming a protection or covering to the shiny dark egg during the (WE. Heanmond, winter. From observations so far made, the ege stage takes place close to the base of the tree, always, however, above ground level. These ova remain frequeutly hidden in the crevices of the bark all the winter, and in spring they produce a larva (Fig. 124) which soon matures into the “ mother-queen ” form, and which sets to work at a great rate to produce viviparous young. L 2 148 Insect Pests. Thus in two ways we have the Woolly Aphis carrying on its existence during the winter above ground: (1) as living viviparous a _ a A e Pac] q females: (2) in the ege stage near the base of the tree, Besides (fF. Edenden, FIG, 122.—ROOT FORM OF WOOLLY APHIS. living on the trunk and other parts above ground, NSehizoneuru lanigere lives (8) on the roots and around the stem below ground. The forms fonnd beneath the soil are just the same as those living above it. There they breed in the same way, produce galled growths on the roots, swolien and cracked areas on the stem, and suck the sap going to the plant. No ova has as vet been detected below the soil. The actual root form, that is, the race that galls the roots, is augmented during the winter by migrants from above. These latter mainly affeet the trunk below the surface soil, and these may and do return in spring to become the aerial race. Moreover, the actual root form migrates to the trunk. eee * As far as I have observed, this migration ove oF WooLLy APHIS xp 18 Dot at any fixed period of time, but is SHRIVELLED SKIN OF Q. spasmodic, RO Ran eane aye The damage done by the root form in this country is certainly severe, but not to the same extent that it is in parts of America. Stedman (1), in his most excellent work in tracing this msect’s life-history, shows that in Missouri it is the Insects Injurious to the Apple. 149 ground form that causes so much damage to the apple orchards in the southern half of the State, and to apple nursery stock throughout the State, and further he says that 95 per cent. of the eases of so- called “ root-rot” is in reality the result of the attack of Woolly Aphis. In Britain in 1894 IT undoubtedly found this aphis on the roots of apple trees at Shalford, in Surrey, the trees dying under the attack, and again at Albury in the following year. The attack was looked upon as abnormal, and for some years all cases that came under iny notice were paid little atteution to. This was due entirely to the fact that in some preparations made from material sent me from Paddock Wood, in Ce EE. Kent, Sch/zoneura fodiens was alone present (2). VIG. L—YOUNG WouLLy Shortly after, Connold found the galls on the 9“) {’"NNP Blow Bee roots, and the matter was placed beyond doubt (3), and the statement concerning S. fodiens was seen to be erroneous as far as the general attack of Woolly Blight concerns the apple. The cases sent in were from cardens with currants, lettuce, etc., growing beneath the trees; on re-examining the slides, 1 find they are S. fodiens,* doubtless though by the senders, owing to their pro- ducing white wool, to be the sume as the specimens actually on the apple roots. During the past five years very many cases of the ground form have been examined, and many reported to me by growers. Mr. Wood of Crockenhall (4) las been the first to recogiise this fact in its practical importance ; having lifted no less than 40,000 [F. Ndenden. FIG, 125.—GALLS CAUSED ON ROOTS BY young stoek, more or less infested Daeg: with this pest, be treated it with the “cas treatment,” and cleared the pest by such means. * This is now known to be the same as the Ehn Leaf Woolly Aphis (Sehizoncura ulint). 150 Insect Pests. Failures in treatment are all because we ignore the presence of the migrating ground form, which we so often know occurs where the aerial form does, just as happens with the Vine Phylloxera (Phylloxera devastatriz). That the Currant Root Louse (Schizonewra fodiens) attacks the apple there is no doubt, but this is only where currants, etc., are grown under apple trees (2). That this is exceptional, and that it is the Woolly Aphis that causes the main loss to apple is, however, now an established fact, and is becoming well known amongst all up-to-date growers. Thus we have this apple pest living during the winter in three ways: (1) above ground as adults, in crevices of the bark, etc.; (2) in the egg stage; and (3) as a root form below ground. In summer we get it in two conditions only: (1) As active adults forming an aerial race, and (2) as active adults forming a subterranean race. NATURAL ENEMIES. These are very few and of no economic importance, except in the case of birds. Of these the Blue Tit (Parus ceruleus) is undoubtedly the most important. This useful little bird, which every fruit-grower should encourage, hunts all through the winter for this pest, and does much to lessen its numbers as it does for many other orchard enemies. The Great Tit (Parus major), the Tree Creeper (Certhia familaris), and even Sparrows prey upon it during the cold months. No insect enemies are of any great value as natural checks. Some Coccinellid larve feed on them, and on some occasions I -have seen Coccinella septem-punctata clear away colonies of this insect. -\ few Syrphid larvee may be seen now and again, but it is very exceptional, and usually happens where we have concomitant attacks of Apple Aphis, which on being destroyed, the Syrphid larve take to the Woolly Blight. Rarely larval Hemerobiide, or Lace Wing Flies, have been found with the pest on exposed shoots. Small dipterous larvie of the genus Pipizw were found feeding on the root form in 1899 in some numbers. Now and again a Nemocoris is found sucking their juices, and a few spiders and Harvest-Men (Phalangidw) now and then take them. With the exception of birds, natural checks are of no importance. Insects Injurious to the Apple. 151 PREVENTION AND TREATMENT. The employment of the Northern Spy and the Majetin varieties for stocks, on account of their immunity, should be well considered by growers and nurserymen as a means of preventing this pest. The treatment of this disease can only be satisfactorily done if we attack it above and below ground at the same time. There are many washes which will destroy it above ground, granted they are properly employed. It is quite useless to treat trees affected with Woolly Aphis with fine sprays. The trees must be not only well wetted, but the wash must be sent with some force and applied to the affected parts for some seconds. It is essential that first of all the wool is removed; unless this is done, I know of no substance, except tobacco, that will penetrate to the insects and so kill them. A good hard washing with ordinary soft soap and quassia is sufficient, but experience has shown that a small quantity of paraffin is beneficial in summer, not more than 3 per cent. in the wash at this time of year. In winter I have found Mr. Spencer Pickering’s wash of paraffin, soap and caustic soda most beneficial, and I do not think a better one can be used at this time, although caustic alkali wash has been found for the last six years to kill a very large quantity. No matter which is used, it is more the thorough application than the actual wash that is of account. Unless the trees are heavily wetted and the wash applied from all directions it will have but little effect. For winter washing for Woolly Aphis then, we may use either the old caustic alkali wash or the more improved Woburn wash. For summer either soft soap and quassia, or a weak paraffin emulsion. Force is necessary, and plenty of the wush in both cases. The ground form in old or established trees may be destroyed by injections of bisulphide of carbon. Nothing else can be used as far as we yet know in this country. ; The quantity for each tree, according to size, varies from 2 to 4 oz. This is best applied two feet away from the trunk, four or more injections for each tree at equal intervals around the stem. It is best injected by means of Vermorel’s Injector, shown at work in Fig. 126. The depth of injection should be about six inches. Care must be taken not to put the fluid ona large root. If the point of the injector strikes a root, move to one side of it. The fumes of the bisulphide are deadly to insect life in the soil, and penetrate deeply into it; they are quite innocuous to plant life, but the actual contact of the liquid is harmful. 152 Insect Pests. This ground treatment must be carried out before April, and in dry weather. The eftect in wet soil is, 1 have found, as disappointing as it is satisfactory in dry land. Mr. Pickering informs me this cannot be so, as it should be most fatal in damp soil. However, personal experience has proved the reverse twe years in succession. It is very essential that all young stock be fumigated with hydro- eyanic acid vas before planting. The stocks may be placed in a greenhouse or tent rigged for the purpose, of kuown capacity, and then fumicated. When dormant, as at the time of lifting, the bushes may be fumigated at the following streneth :—For every 100 cubic feet of (ic ‘ss aT thn \ ig a: (4. 1. D. Rintoul. FIG, 126.—INJECTING BISULPHIDE OF CARBON BY MEANS OF THE VERMOREL INJECTOR, space use 1 oz, of sodium cyanide or potassiuin eyanide, 1 oz. of sul- phuric acid and 4 oz. of water. The trees should be kept in the fumes for £5 minutes. It will be found that the tips may now and then be scorched, especially in some varieties, as the Beauty of Bath and Worcester Pearmain, but no actual damage is done. It nursery- men will not guarantee the stock las been so treated, then it is well worth the erower’s while to do so himselt.* Pickering recommends immersion in petrol for five minutes or in water at 115° I. for ten minutes, This kills the aphis, but neither, as fav as T ean see affects the ova, so that fumigation had best be relied on. Insects Injurious to the Apple. 153 Several growers have found considerable benefit from spraying with lime and salt. REFERENCES, (1) Stedman. Bulletin No. 85. Agricultural Experiment Station of Missouri (1896). (2) Theobald, F. V. American Blight or Woolly Aphis and a related subter- ranean species. Journal 8, E, Agri. Coll., No. 6, pp. 15-21 (1897). (3) Connold, HE. Vegetable galls. (4) Theobald, F. V. Report on Economie Zoology for the year ending April 1st, 1907, pp. 80-38 (1907). (5) French, C. ‘Handbook of the Destructive Insects of Victoria,’ Part I., p- 87 (1904). (6) French, C. Journal of the Bureau of Agriculture, Western Australia, February 18th (1896). (7) Lounsbury, C. Report of the Government Entomologist for the year 1896. Cape of Good Hope, pp. 107-114 (1897). (8) MacOwan and Pillans. ‘Manual of Practical Orchard Work.’ Dept. Agriculture, Cape Colony (1894). (9) Lounsbury, C. Agricultural Journal, Cape Colony, Sept. 19 (1895). ° THE APPLE SUCKER. (Psylla mali. Schmidb.) Of all apple pests this is one of the most troublesome. It has been known for many years, for Kollar (1), quoting Schmidberger in 1837, gives an excellent account of it. The Apple Sucker belongs to the family Psyllide, of which Edwards (2) describes twenty-eight species in this country. They are related to the Frog-hoppers (Cicadina), but can be told at once by their two-jointed tarsi or feet. Three species occur on the apple, of which P. malt is by far the most abundant and frequently the only culprit. It has been placed by some of the older writers in the genus Chermes, and we even find Ormerod (3) calling it the “ apple chermes.” It has no connection with that group of insects. Its attack on the apple is very persistent. This fact, well known to growers who suffer from its ravages, has evidently not been noticed by writers, for we find such statements as the following: “The attack appears to be of only occasional appearance to a serious extent and has been only specially reported to myself in 1890 and 1891, and again in 1897,” Ormerod (3). Growers in Kent, Cambridgeshire, Worcestershire and Surrey report its constant presence. Mr. H. J. W. Best of Suckley tells me it has been a great pest in parts of Worcestershire during the past 154 Insect Pests. twenty years. My. Ellis has had it in his plantations near Godal- ming in Surrey for many years. Many growers in Kent have had it constantly working year after year. Certain plantations are infested more than others, of course, but there are few which I have visited in which it could not be detected. During a tour of inspection in 1906 of the plantations in Worcestershire very few places were found where it was not more or less harmful, and there are growers who considered that the estimated damage to the apple crop, namely 70 per cent., was too low. In some parts it certainly was, for the whole blossom had been destroyed (4). Mr. Denis Best informed me that at one of his plantations at Holt Castle he had picked no apples for fifteen years owing to the Sucker. It is also harmful in Herefordshire. Mr. Getting of Ross writes that it is very troublesome to some ot his apples. The insect is also common in Norfolk, Huntingdonshire, Oxfordshire, Dorsetshire and Gloucestershire. During a visit to some Devon plantations in 1906 and 1907 very little of this apple enemy was detected and erowers there scarcely knew what it was. Mr. W. Bear tells me it is not present in his plantations to any extent now at Hailsham. The damage done by it is mainly to the blossoms, but leaf-buds are also attacked. This latter damage was specially noticed at Wye in 1901. The attacked leat- buds when they open produce only stunted and deformed leaves (Fig. 127). Besides being crinkled and deformed, the foliage presents a pallid appearance, often looking frosted; sometimes these leaves die off, at others they eradually recover. The damage to the blossom- buds and blossoms is much more marked and abundant. Frequently the bads never properly open and when many of the young “suckers” Tse Se have entered, the blossom is irre- parably damaged before expanding. Tt only a few are present then the blossom shows well, but before the petals are ready to fall they shrivel up and a dried brown truss remains, This is a very marked sign of Psylla attack, and it is noticed (4) that the dead blossom hangs on the trees a lone time, Insects Injurious to the Apple. 155 often until the fruit is ripe or even the leaves are falling. Furley (6) records that the dead leaves showing Psylla skins remain on the trees up to Christmas, and in several orchards they were noticeable up to March. This brown appearance has given rise to an idea that the blossom has been struck by frost. That it 1s Psylla work we can tell by the presence of the small insects in the trusses, and later by their dried grey skins or exuviie which remain attached to the strigs and leaves until the end of the season (Fig. 130). These are mostly pupal skins. It is probable that some of the supposed damage by Sucker is due to the Brown Lot Funeus. Not all varieties are similarly affected. The Ecklinville may be pointed out as suffering more than any other, possibly owing to the stalks of the blossom being so short. The Blenheim Orange, the Wellington, Lord Grosvenor, Lane’s Prince Albert and Quarenden we have seen quite ruined by this pest, but in all parts the Worcester Pearmain appears to suffer least. Lire-History anp Hapirs. The adult Psylla mali (Hig. 128) is winged in both sexes. They occur from the middle of May till the middle of November. The colour is very variable. At first they are greenish-yellow to green, the legs paler and the feet blackish ; later they change, some become brownish-yellow, others show dark markings, with even red and yellow. The wings are quite transparent and have greenish or green- ish- yellow veins, and they fold over the body in tectiform manner fm Bdenden: when’ the insect is at FIG. 128.—ADULT APPLE SUCKER (Psylla@ mati). (% 14.) rest. In length they vary from zy to § inch. The venation of the wings is very characteristic and will at once separate this insect from other fruit “Leaf Hoppers” with which they may be confused owing to their jumping habits. At the least shock they skip off the foliage and then frequently use their wings and may be seen taking short flights under and about the trees. The males, according to the 156 Insect Pests. observations of Furley (6) and myself, are usually brighter than the females, but according to Schmidberger (1) it is the reverse ; moreover, the latter describes their colour as being very much more varied than we usually find in Eng- land. The male, he says, “in wedding attire is either of a lively green striped on the back with yellow, a dark yellow J with broad stripes, or (#. Hlewlen Tmost completely green with dark yellow dots, the abdomen entirely yellow. The females are of a pretticr colour and somewhat larger ; the entire back of the female, reaching as far down as the forceps at the extremity of the abdomen, is red, striped with greenish-yellow and brown and the abdomen is orange-yellow or ereen; they are green or greenish-yellow on other occasions.” The amount of varia- tion differs in different places and in different seasons. It is the general greenish shade that will be chiefly noticed by the growers. These adults live on the foliage all the time, sometimes we find them at rest on the boughs and trunks. They apparently do no damage in this stage. Pairing takes place towards September, and from then on into November they deposit their eggs. Before copulating Schmidberger (1) says five or six of them assemble on an apple leaf and each male selects his female, and that whilst pairing is going on a tubercle appears on the last ring of the extreme part of the body, which remains there until pairing is over. The eves are laid in various places, but especially on the spurs, generally around the leat- ridges, some placed horizon- FIG, 129, —LARVA AND NYMPH OF APPLE SUCKER, (Greatly enlarged.) {FL Edenden. FIG, 130.—NYMPH SKINS OF APPLE SUCKER. CEQ) tally, others in a more irregular manuer ; many others are placed on the fine hairs on the year’s evowth and some on the buds. I have Insects Injurious to the Apple. 157 once or twice noticed a few on the smaller boughs. Many years avo Mr. Fred Smith, who first pointed out the eges to me, noticed that they were often laid in a line, end to end; | have only seen this occasionally since and then when laid amonest the fine hairs. The ova (Figs. 151 and 132) when first laid are almost white, then they become creamy-yellow and later assume a faintly rusty-red hue betore hatching, Furley (6) deseribes them as becoming a pale yellow-red also. They are elongated oval in form, somewhat pointed at the ends, one of which is produced into a thin process which is apparently eurled under the ege and cannot easily be seen unless the ovum is very carefully removed. What this process is for we do not at present know. Furley, in his careful observations, found that in Worcestershire in 1906 very few eggs were laid until the middle of October. In Kent we have found many as early as the 24th of Sep- tember. Laying certainly may go on until November in late years. Mr. Getting records (8) that at Ross he found plenty of eggs on the 14th of September, and at Vershore they were observed some days earlier. With fresh eves we may also find numbers of empty ege-shells; sometimes I have counted twenty empty shells to one sound one. These are mainly old shells of the previous broods, but some few ears ohne OLD EGG OF APPLE SUCKER, may have been destroyed by predaceous — siowine ruprurn ANd Process. mites, for in some twigs sent me by a eee Messrs. Caleb Lee and Sons, of Swanley, a small red acarus was watched destroying them. The presence of these old egg-shells Is very important. They explain the frequent errors that have been made in regard to washes having destroyed the ova. Another point of great interest concerning the eggs is the nreeu- larity with which they hatch out. The date not Sake varies in different localities and in different years, but during the same season in the same plantation, They incubate at different periods according to the variety of apple upon which they are situated. This may be due to the heat generated by the flow of sap regulating their hatching to the time of the bursting of the buds. In 1906 they hatched out at Wye on the 10th of April on one variety of apple, on a different variety next to it not until the 20th. FIG. 131. 158 Insect Pests. As much as seven days’ difference was noticed at one place by My. Furley (at Pinvin); those on the Blenheim Orange hatched on the 3rd of April, those on the Wellington not until the 10th of April, and it was particularly noticed that they hatched first on the Eck- linville, one of the earliest of apples. Not many miles away at Eardiston they did not commence to appear until the 12th. In Kent they have been found to vary in incubation hetween the 24th of March and the 27th of April. Schmidbereer records them as hatching in Germany on the 5th of April, simultaneously with the bursting of the leaves. The small larvie coming from the ova at once ascend to the buds, and if they are not suffi- ciently open they may be seen seated on the buds waiting to gain entrance (Fig. 153) At first the larvie are vellow to dirty vellow with brown markings, bright red eves, brown feet, and about the size of a pin- point; their form is seen in the photograph (Fig. 129). Thev are quite flat, and soon work their way into the folds of the buds and at once commence to feed. Sometunes these ttle larvae are quite green, at others quite dark in colour. ee fad Schmidberger found that the ie: SUCKER, larvee cast their skin on the Se Dear second day alter birth, and soon as after this that characteristic vlobule, seen on the buds and open trusses, makes its appearance from the larval body, and then the white thread appears by which the oily elobule is attached. Another moult takes place ina few davs, and then the larva not only is provided with the thread and globule but also with a number of white waxy threads which partly cover its body. The first change [ have found may take place ten days after hatching. OVA OF APPLE Until recently the first moult observed by Sclimidberger was not seen. In no ease have I been able to deteet moulting as soon as Sehmid- herver describes. After changing the second skin the Psvlla becomes Insects Injurious to the Apple. 159 green all over and the abdomen larger and broader than the thorax, and small rudiments of wing buds appear (Fie. 124). This is the first nymphal or pupal stage. ‘Like the larva it has a long thread and waxy globule and becomes still further covered with white waxy threads and fine curled hair-like particles. The third change of skin takes place in from eight to fifteen days and the wing rudiments become more pronounced. After this moult the filament and fine curly threads ave inostly pale blue. The nymphal stages are usually found on the leaves, the fine filaments seem to hold two leaves together and thus shelter the “suckers.” Often several nymphs are found close together between the two leaves. Previous to the moult, the nymph fixes its beak firmly into the leat and then the skin splits and the winged adult emerges and leaves its cast skin firmly attached to the leaf (Fig. 130). The whole eyele, from the hatching of the ege to the bursting forth of the imago, takes from four to six weeks. The colour of the pup varies, those found between the leaves are yellower than those which are free on the surface, which are normally green. The antennie are very marked, being darker at the tips which are bifurcated, the saine as in the “| he pane : v. Purley. winged adults. FIG, 133.—YOUNG LARV.E OF APPLE As far as we know at present the — svexer warrine ro ryrek Bubs. apple is the sole food plant of this Psylla. One year I found numbers of it on a hawthorn hedge near some apple trees in my garden, together with some Psylla cratayi, but I find they do not breed on the hawthorn and that they evidently only go there for temporary shelter. They may also be found in the winged state on pear and plum and currants when mixed with apple, but they are there only as casual visitors and not for depositing their egys. As soon as the male has fertilised the female he dies, but the female lives for some days after. PREVENTION AND TREATMENT The prevention of the Apple Sucker is no easy matter, owing to their hatching out irregularly, Spraying to kill the young is very 160 Insect Pests. unsatisfactory unless we have only one variety of apple in a planta- tion. Under such circumstances we may destroy very large numbers by spraying with soft soap and quassia, if we do so when we find them as shown in Fig. 133, namely, waiting outside the buds. Even then not all will be destroyed, as even on the same tree they do not all hatch in one day, or even in a week. The Duke of Bedford and Mr. Spencer Pickering (10) have found great benefit from spraying with tobacco wash. The various statements made that certain washes will kill or corrode away, etc., the eggs must be taken with caution. None that I have tried have any appreciable effect in this direction, and the careful experiments carried out by Mr. Furley in conjunction with many Worcestershire growers show clearly that no washes have any material effect in killing the eggs. Nor when we have considered the structure of the Psylla ovum, do we think that this is likely to take place, unless the wash is so caustic that the trees would be killed. The various statements as to the mortality in the eggs after spraying have been, of course, given in good faith, but the investigators have not apparently taken into account two factors: first, as pointed out by Schmidberger in 1837, the ova will not hatch on shoots cut off the trees unless they have been cut off a few days only prior to normal hatching; and, secondly, the number of old egg- shells and normal infertile ova. In one batch of shoots sent me by Mr. Furley from sprayed trees some twelve Psylla hatched out of some hundreds of eggs, one might have said the various washes had killed all the rest; unfortunately, untreated twigs were sent and fewer hatched (as it happened) from these than from those which had been sprayed, the reason being that the eggs mostly lose their vitality when the life of the twig is destroyed. Experimenters have also neclected the fact in their “eco- counts” that many old egg-shells remain, and these are what they have probably assumed the wash has destroyed. The old shells can easily be told by being grey and have a ruptured shell. Other ova will be noticed which ‘look dull and sunken; these latter are simply infertile eggs. I have known as much as 80 per cent. of Psylla eggs to be infantile: One can only repeat that growers are wasting time in spraying with winter washes to corrode the eggs of these insects. The only treatment found of any use in preventing the young trom entering the buds is spraying the trees with the thick lime, salt and waterglass mixture (vide appendix). Mr. Howard Chapman first called my attention to this, and was so confident of the good done in his plantations that further experiments were conducted at Insects Injurious to the Apple. 161 AND FPLETCHER’S MACH ED WITH LIME AND SALT WASH BY DRAKE nats FIG, M 162 Insect Pests. Wye College, and these bore out what Mr. Chapman had found; check trees in both cases being kept. Still more definite results were obtained by My, J. H. W. Best of Suckley, and Myr, Montague Taylor of Shelsley Walsh, and Mr. Martin of the Toddington Fruit Grounds, crops of apples being obtained by the former, for the first time for many vears, on the treated trees, while the rest of the plantations suffered as usual. Where failures have taken place such as recorded by Mr, Spencer Pickering (10), and notified to me by Mr. Harnett of Sittingbourne, the cause was probably he- cause the wash was not put on thick encugh.* The wash does not do any such impossible thing as corrode the egg-shells, it acts as far as I can see as a mechanical barrier to the escape of a very large number of the young. At the same time it is possible that the salt has some osmutie power, for where the quantity of salt is inereased the action becomes sreater, Observers have noticed that when trees are thus treated the Psylla FIG, 185, —SENECA NOZZLES USED FOR LIME AND ova assume a dull leaden hue, SALT WASH. and this still further points MES nares. to goa eles tuetine plate in the ova. The addition of waterglass 1s to prevent the wash from flaking off. Many sub- stances have been tried for this purpose, both by Mr. Spencer Pickering and myself, and the same results have been attained; waterglass or paraffin being the only substances found to do good in this respect. The latter, however, I found much iuferior to the former. Spraying when the suckers are in the trusses of the blossom may doa little good if the blossoms are hit fairly hard so as. to drive the quid in, but this may do some harm, and but few are actually touched by the spray owing to their waxy and thready coverines Set “Tn the former I now learn this was the case. Insects Injurious to the Apple. 165 For this purpose paraffin emulsion does good, but tobaceo wash is most successful. The paraflin emulsion was found suecessful by two large Worcester growers, who made it as follows: soft soap S 1bs., paraffin 4 gallons, water 100 gallons (8). But I have noticed that where this wash is used and trickles down into the trusses that scorchine often results, and as Mr. Clive Murdock of Linton has pointed out to me, does as much harm as the suckers. Some few years avo attention was drawn (7) to autumnal spraying with paraffin emulsion to kill the winged adults before [i Ve Lheobald. they lay their egys. The time to do this is directly the fruit is picked, and the emulsion may then be used at double its normal strength. The emulsion must be sent out in a dense spray and directed not only over the leaves but also at the clouds of suckers that fly under the trees. . Mr. Smith of Loddington wrote me in 1905 that very few would be hit, but from personal observations I found that the majority can easily be killed, Mr, Oswald Ellis of Bramley tried this treatment in badly infested plantations in the autumn of 11106, M 2 164 Insect Pests. and the result was that the Psylla were practically exterminated, as they were in my own garden two years previously: and I vente to think. now it lias been found suecesstul by a laree grower, that it can be made so by others, and that with it and the lime, salt and waterglass treatment the damage done by this serious pest may be ereatly reduced. NATURAL ENEMIES. So far no insect parasites liave been recorded from this pest. A small red acinus was observed once feeding on the eves, but has not been noticed since. Xchmidberger (1) mentions two mites, one deep red, the other a dirty yellow, which pursued and sucked the young of this insect and cleared them off a pot tree under observation. Je also found the light green pupa of one of the garden bugs pursuing the voung suckers and piercing them with their beaks. The Blue Tit and the Long-tailed Tit take a certain number, aid I have known shoots quite cleared of the eges hy a family of the latter birds. No enemies are known, however, which do any appreciable good. Sehmidbereer (1) describes the adults as “subject to a kind of disease which appears to deprive them of the power of eating, and in this case the leaves on which they are found are not in the slightest degree in- jured. When thus aflected, the head and thorax of the insect are snow white and their abdomens are ringed with black.” This fungus was probably Zuto- mophthore sphevosperme of Fresenius ("), which is common on the Leat LF. Buenden. Hoppers Pyphlocybe spp. This fungoid FIG, 137. EGuS OF A Psucil spe parasite is white at times and at others Frequently found on fruit trees. pea green, The ova (Fig. 157) of a Psoeid are are often sent with those of the Apple Sucker and with Leaf IToppers. It is possible that these insects prey upon the yvoune suckers. (Creatly enlarged.) Insects Injurious to the Apple. 165 REFERENCES. (1) Kollar, V. ‘A Treatise on Insects,’ p. 278 (1840). (2) Edwards, J. ‘The Hemiptera-Homoptera of the British Isles,’ p. 247 (1896). (3) Ormerod, E. A. ‘Handbook of Insects Injurious to Orchard and Bush Fruits,’ p. 42 (1898), (4) Theobald, F. V. Report on the Orchard and Fruit Plantations of Wor- cestershire. (Worcestershire Education Committee) p. 12 (1906). (5) Theobald, F. V. Second Report on Economic Zoology (British Museum), p- 46 (1904). (6) Hurley, K. Report on the Experimental Spraying for the Apple Sucker. (Worcestershire Education Committee) (1907). (7) Theobald, F. V. Report on Economie Zoology for the year ending April 1st, 1905, p. 39 (1905). (8) Theobald, F. V. Idem for year ending April 1st, 1906, p- 387 (1906). (9) Cooke, M. C. ‘ Vegetable Wasps and Plant Worms,’ p. 804 (1892). (10) Bedford, Duke of, and Pickering, Spencer U. Eighth Report of the Woburn Experimental Fruit Farm, pp. 70 and 73 (1908). THE MUSSEL SCALE INSECT. (Lepidosaphes ulmi. Linn.*) The Mussel Scale, also known as the Oyster-shell Scale, was first definitely described in 1758 by Linnzeus as Coceus ulmi. The name by which we have known it in recent years has been wrong, viz., Mytilaspis pomorum, of Bouché (1851); moreover, it is now shown not to bea true Mytilaspis at all, but belongs to the genus Lvpidosaphes, Shimer (1868). Its correct nomenclature stands thus, Lepidosaphes ulmi, Linneeus. It has been described under twelve specific names, and six generic names according to M. E. Fernald (1). Scale Insects are called Coccide, and are found living as parasites on many plants in all parts of the world, especially in warm climates. They are not only unsightly, but are most injurious to the health of the plant or tree which they attack. Frequently they encrust trees so thickly that death results. Like the Aphis, the Scale Insect feeds upon the sap of the tree, and at the same time blocks up the respiratory pores (lenticels), by encrusting the trunk and boughs with the scaly structures they produce, or their shrivelled bodies or felted secretions. We find scale insects on all parts of trees and plants, on the trunk, boughs, leaves, fruit and even on the roots of some plants. Many species, such as the one in question, may live on many * Formerly known as Myttlaspis pomorwm. 166 Insect Pests. different kinds of trees. We find the Mussel Scale, for instance, on apple, pear, plum, cherry, currant, nectarine and peach, on elm, willow, birch, ash, oak, lime, poplar, cornus, roses, hazel, cob and filbert nuts, and now and then on gooseberries. Fernald (1) gives also for abroad such food plants as butter-nuts, Stillingia sebifera, Ailantbus elandulosus, Ceanothus americanus, Sassafras officinale, -Fsculus glabra, Syringa persica, Cysticus, ete. This insect is found in nearly all countries where apples and pears are grown. It is very abundant in North America, in Africa, fal. WD. Rintondl, FIG, 133.—THE MUSSEL SCALE (Lepidosaphes ulini ON AVPLE TWIG. in Australia, and New Zealand. It has been distributed by means of nursery stock, and in many of our colonics, ete. its importation Is now guarded against by lecislation (2). Normal bark gland markines must not be mistaken for Scale Insects (Fig. 141) (5). Lire-History, Wapirs anp Srrverure. Po find this scale insect we should eo to an old orehiard, and wxaniine the trunks of the trees, when a casual search will soon Insects Injurious to the Apple. Loy reveal these little pests. Young trees are often Infested too, but one 1s not so sure of finding them on youns, well cared for ieee as on old and neglected ones. ‘ The Mussel Scale is so called because the seale rouehly resembles in shape a miniature mussel shell. It is also called the Ovster-shell Bark Louse, because it also bears some similarity to the American Blue-point Oyster. In size and exnct shape there is much variation, pore [ \ yaa Hess (ha 4 4 ae Ny ye ee AAS i Ue sa INA as ee = 5 Oo FIG. 159, —THE MUSSEL SCALE (Lepidosiphes fins). 1, female scale (dorsal view) (% 15); 2, ventral view with ova (x 15); 3, mature female beneath scale (X 20) ; 4, larva (x 50); 5, male (x 35); 6, male scale (« 15). (After Newstead.) Most insects vary in size, the quantity and quality of food regulating the growth. Most mussel scales will be found to vary between | and 2d inch in length. In form the hard scale is swollen and rounded at one end, more or less bluntly pointed at the other, the whole scale somewhat flattened in form, and very closely apphed to the bark. 168 Insect Pests. A faint, white membrane is seen around the edye of the scale in some specimens. At the pointed end, we notice a smaller scaly area, marked off from the larger. This is the insects’ cast skin, the so-called exuviuin. If we lift up one of these scales on the apple tree with the point of a knife some time during the late summer, turn it over and look at it with a maznifying glass, we shall at once see lying at the front end of the scale, a small pale, fleshy mass, which lias distinct lines across it. This is the female insect, which bas formed, as we shall see, the tiny scale above to serve as a protecting house. With the point of a pin this legless, wingless, feelerless, female can easily be taken from under the scale, and can be more carefully examined. With the aid of a strong magnifying glass her body will be seen to be somewhat oblong in form. One will uotice that there are no traces of any organs of locomotion or any marked external secmented structures, such as the feelers. But in front, we shall see the mouth, which is in the form of long, thread-like structures, often much longer than the body of the insect. This long, thread-lke organ is forced deep into the tissue of the apple tree, and by it the sap of the tree is drawn up into the scale insect’s body. Now we must show a littie patience and search, perhaps for some hours, amonyst sist eg ae a a eat ca the scales on the apple trees to look out A MALE SCALE INSECT, for the much rarer scale of the male insect. (Be) The male seale can be told from the female by its much smaller size and squarer build. They cannot always be found. Rae ee Ifwe keep examining the mussel scales on the apple tree inte the winter, we shall find that by deerees the female body become smaller and sinaller, aud eventually remains behind as a shrivelled mass of skin under the scale. As the femule shrivels up, we find eradually aceumulativg, at the broad end of the seale, small oval, wrey bodies, looking like dust. These ave the eves of the insect, of which as many as eighty mmay oeeur under each scale, but often only thirty to forty, in this country. In faet, the female becomes manele at hag of eves, and so has carried out her sole function, that of continuing her species. Ti dune, we find that these dust-like eves hatch out into Jittle active creatures, provided with six short leas und two Insects Injurious to the Apple. 169 antemme, ‘These grey, larval scale insects crawl from beneath i dried seale, and wander about freely over the tree. Sooner v later they fix upon some definite spot, plunge their lone beaks A the plant, and then commences a most remarkable series of chaneves. Soon after hatching the larva lecomes covered with a ereyish- white substance. At this time, the young scale insects may readily be seen on the trees as small whitish specks. If the larva is destined to become a female it never moves again. At first the larva js (uite unprotected, but by degrees a waxy excretion exudes from its skin, and the rudiments of a scale form over it. Then it casts its skin and this cast skin also fuses with the waxy covering, and forms that smaller area mentioned before, seen on the front of an old scale. The cast skins enterine into the forma- tion of the coccid scale are the so-called exuviw. When tie little active larva moults it loses its legs, its feelers, its bristles, aud so becomes converted into a footless, almost structureless body, the adult female. We see no pupal stage as noticed in the aphis. Let us uow see what happens if the larva is to become a male. It first settles down and, just as in the female, it forms a protecting covering composed of excretions and cast skins, but of very different form from that of the female. Now this larva, instead of degenerating as did the female, PIG, 141, Caste its alu ain embers aR Or ee eee ee pupal stage, called the propupa, in ; which we find limbs and rudiments of wings forming. When matured, this pupa casts its skin, and from beneath the scale there issues forth a winged insect. The male scale insect has two wines, very different from the four-winged aphis, the single pair of wings having but one forked vein to support them. The end of the body is prolonged into along tube. This tube is inserted by the male under the temiale scale, and so the female is fertilised. The male then dies. The male mussel scale may now and then be found ; but not a hundredth part of the females which lay eges are ever fertilised by a male. They, like the aphis, can produce asexually, that is, without the agency of a male. elands, b, ¢; uv, ¢, cankered se; 170 Insect Pests. Some scale insects have the male still rarer, and in others no males whatever have been found. The little active larvee appear to be able to wander some distance, and that they do so we know by the fact that we frequently find this mussel scale on the apples and Jeaves. They are also carried about by various natural agencies, such as the wind, birds, and by other insects. In has been noticed that Ladybird Beetles carry them on their backs from tree to tree. NATURAL ENEMIES. Like the Aphis, the Scale Insect has several natural enemies. Ladybirds (Coccinellidw) and their larve or “niggers” devour them, but not to any great extent in our country. Small hymenopterous insects called Chalcid Flies (Chalcidide) lay their eggs in them and so destroy them. We are sure to notice many of the mussel scales on the apple trees with minute round holes in them. These are the exit holes of the parasites, very similar to what we observe in the aphides. The Blue Tit (Parus ceruleus) and other birds pick the scales off very ravenously, and often destroy large colonies of them. Yet, with all these natural enemies, we get the Mussel Scale often causing a great deal of damage in our orchards, especially when they attack young and tender trees. These natural enemies evidently cannot be relied on to do any appreciable good. ARTIFICIAL MEANS OF DISTRIBUTION. This scale is distributed artificially, namely, on nursery stock and on fruit. In this way it has become a world-wide species. On nursery stock it is not easy to detect, if present in very small numbers, as the scales so closely resemble the colour of the bark. At the time that stock is lifted for removal the scale insects are in the egg stage. Fruit also undoubtedly is another way in which it has been carried from country to country ; the peel may get thrown about in manure and rubbish heaps in gardens, and then the young larve may easily be carried by birds, etc., to the trees. Thirdly, they undoubtedly come over sea and distances by land on other plants than fruit trees. GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. Europe generally, Algeria, Egypt, South Africa, Canada, United States, Brazil, Hawaiian Islands, Japan, New Zealand and Australia. Insects Injurious to the Apple. ibe VARIETIES OF THE Mussen SCALE, There are four well-known varieties :— (.) Variety vitis Goethe, found on the grape vine in England, Egypt and Germany. (ii.) Variety w/mi Douglas, found on the furze (Ulex cwropeus). {ill.) Variety eandidu Newstead, on hawthorn in England. (iv.) Variety japonica Kuw, found on Adies firma in Japan. PREVENTION AND TREATMENT, The prevention of Mussel Scale is difficult, as it is undoubtedly to some extent spread by birds and insects. We can, however, guard against its importation with young stock by fumigating it, before planting, with hydrocyanic acid gas. One of the best remedies is paraffin emulsion. This may be used as a winter wash strong enough to kill the eggs under the scales, or as a summer wash in the dilute form to kill the freshly hatched young. Caustic alkali wash is also found successful by Fuiley (3). More recently the Woburn wash has been found to act quicker than either paraffin emulsion or caustic soda alone. The following account taken from one of my reports (4) may be quoted here :— “Tt may here be mentioned that some 2,000 odd trees were treated in all at Mr. Amos’ plantations. Some of the trees were completely coated with the scale so that no bark could be seen. The majority had but few coccids higher than the forks of the trunk, and all had an immense quantity where any band of straw or cloth had been used for staking purposes. In many trees the straw clasps seemed to act as a check to further advance up the tree. A few trees showed but a normal number of scale except under these protections. Frequent observations proved that both Blue Tit (Parus cwrulews) and Long- tailed Tit (P. caudatus) had done good work and the bands alone protected the scale from them. The scale insect had sprung into such vitality that thousands more of these useful birds could have made no difference however. The orchard was partly down to grass, partly cultivated beneath with gooseberries and black currants, and partly cultivated without any bush fruit beneath. “The apples in the plantations were the following varieties : Beauty of Bath, Ecklinville, Newton Wonder, Cox’s Orange Pippin. “Two points in the attack were noticed: (1) that the trees on the cultivated land were attacked more than those on the grass land, and (2) that the thin skinned varieties were more damaged than the thick. The latter is readily understandable, but the former is not, 172 Insect Pests. for the trees were in a most unhealthy state (besides being unculti- vated), having been subject to a bad attack of Winter Moth for two years, and to a worse attack of Tortrix (7 rosana) and Bud Moth (HZ. ocellana), and much Shoot Borer (Blastodacna hellerella). Yet the scale had spread much more rapidly on the more healthy trees, that were cultivated, than on the unhealthy trees, uncultivated. “Tn January 1905 the whole of the orchards were heavily sprayed with caustic alkali wash. “The proportions used on the whole were :—10 lbs. caustic soda, 10 Ibs. carbonate potash, 100 gallons of water. Unfortunately the owner had sprayed at my advice the whole before the ingredients had been analysed and the percentages were not known. “To counteract this some trees on the College farm and some of my own were sprayed with 20 lbs. of both (98 per cent.) to 100 gallons of water. “ Tn all three cases the trees appeared cleaner, but in no case was. any apparent damage done to the scales. ‘Numbers were examined from time to time, and the eggs were all found intact, not a single one being shrivelled or harmed. “Tt was then suggested that lime-washing all the trees would bring the scale off. Nearly 2,000 trees were thus treated, but some fifty were left as checks. “The lime wash was thoroughly well put on by hand, and well worked up to the forks of the branches. Fresh slack lime was used, and put on as a thick wash. Subsequent rains washed much away, but in June I counted 200 trees still heavily coated. “This had no more effect than the caustic alkali wash. The only difference noticed was that on the trees washed only with the caustic alkali wash, the eggs hatched out some six or seven days sooner than those which were lime-washed in addition. The lime probably checked the egress of the larves mechanically for a time. “Neither of these methods of treatment, carried out in three separate places, had any effect whatever upon the Mussel Scale. “Mr. Neild of Holrmes Chapel wrote me in 1905 in similar strain, stating that he was disappointed with the result of caustic wash for Mussel Scale, and asking advice re paraffin treatment. “When most of the ova were observed to have hatched in June, the whole of Mr. Amos’ orchard was treated with strong paraffin emulsion. “The 2,000 trees were scrubbed with ordinary hand serubbing brushes, with the wash. Only the trunks up to the forks were treated, except in a few trees. Insects Injurious lo the Apple. 173 “The wash used at first was very strong, owine to the scale encrust- ing the trees so thickly this was thought necessary. Some seventy trees were scrubbed with the following: 5 Ibs. soft soap (Chiswick), 1 gallon parafin (Tea Rose), 10 gallons water, “Halfan hour after the trees had been scrubbed, the scales were seen to become dull erey. A few hours later the seales were microscopically examined, and the eges beneath were found to be shriveled and dead, and all larvie that had hatched out were at once killed. As some leaves close to the forks were seen to scorch at once, and as the ova remainine were seen to be destroyed, the wash was at onee reduced to the following proportions: 5 Ibs. soft soap, 1 gallon paraffin, 40 gallons of water, This was used for some 200 trees, and FIG, 142.—SPRAYING MACHINE (FOUR OAKS PATENT). Useful in small plantations and gardens for Mussel Seale, aphis and caterpillars. was found to have the desired effect in not only killing the larvie and young seale, but the ova beneath the scale. “The owner of the orchard, however, doubted about the second formula being strony enough, and scrubbed the remainder of the trees with the strong solution. A few trees were sprayed all over with both the concentrated and dilute emulsiovs, in neither case was any serious damage done to the foliage ; although a few delicate leaves were seen to be seorched, in July they looked quite healthy anid bore good fruit. Needless to say, only a very fine mist was sent over the trees. Vrobably under other circumstances damave would result, so the spraying treatment cannot be advised during the summer. Strong paratlin emulsion causes 174 Insect Pests. the scales to turn grey, partly corrodes them away, and penetrates. under the scales, and so destroys the eggs. We should use this. as a winter wash, when it is less likely to do any harm, there always. being a risk of damage to the trees when paraffin emulsion is. used in summer. Of the 2,000 trees treated, six were said to be killed, and ten badly damaged. These were all around the tanks. where the wash was prepared, and it is probable that the first few pailfuls of wash were not properly mixed, and then the trees had an extra dose of paraffin. This may or may not be so, but according to the men working in the plantation the death was mainly due to old and repeated canker. “The effect on the bark of some trees was very marked, peculiar irregular cracks being formed, but none of these trees have been damaged, and have blossomed well. The weaker mixture was found sufficiently strong to kill this pest, and for summer work tt is the better to use, “Two trees were sprayed with pure paraffin in the winter, in neither case was any damage done to the tree, and all the scale was. destroyed.” The experiments conducted by Furley (3) in Worcestershire point to three washes being successful in killing the eggs, namely, caustic alkali wash, paraffin emulsion, and the Woburn wash (7). The latter and the alkali wash worked more rapidly than the emulsion, but the former is undoubtedly harmful to the trees. Lime-salt-sulphur wash had been previously experimented with, and was not tried again at Mr. Amos’ as the paraffin treatment seemed to be the most successful. But Mr. Paget-Norbury writes. from Malvern that he has found this useful, quite 50 per cent. being killed by it (6). In conclusion, we may say that for Mussel Scale in the egg stage,. or when the females are completely protected by their brown covering, the employment of paraffin emulsion or the Woburn wash is the most successful method of treatment. In winter the strong mixture of emulsion may be used, up to 7 or 8 gallons of paraffin per 100 gallons of wash being necessary; in June it was found that it had some, but not much, ill effect upon the bark; the weaker solution had not, and thus this should be used when there is a bad attack in summer. Somewhere about the first week in June the scale insects hatch out, and then, if present in only small quantities, they may be held in check by spraying all the tree with soft soap and paraffin (10 lbs. of soap, 2 gallons of paraffin to 100 gallons of water). or even soap and quassia. Insects Injurious to the Apple. 175 The paraffin treatment should never be adopted in summer unless the attack is very severe. REFERENCES. (1) Fernald, M. E. ‘Catalogue of the Coccidie of the World,’ p. 814 (1903). (Complete synonomy of the species). (2) Theobald, F. V. Animal Pests and Legislation. Proceedings of the Association of Economic Biologists, vol. I., pt. 2, pp. 31 and 53 (1906). (8) Furley, K. Report on the Experimental Spraying for the Apple Sucker, with note on the Mussel Scale, ete. Worcestershire Education Com- mittee (1907). (4) Theobald, F. V. Report on Economie Zoology for the year ending April, 1906, pp. 27-36 (1906). (5) Theobald, F. V. Scale Disease and False Scale amongst Fruit Trees and Bushes. First Report on Economic Zoology (British Museum Nat. Hist.) pp. 22-25 (1903). (6) Theobald, F. V. Report on Economic Zoology for the year ending April 1st, 1907, pp. 42-44 (1907). (7) Bedford, Duke of and Pickering, Spencer U. Sixth Report, Woburn Experimental Fruit Farm, pp. 225-231 (1906). (8) Newstead, R. ‘Monograph of the Coccide of the British Isles,’ vol. L., p.:194. (Ray Society). (1900). THE BROWN SOFT SCALE. (Lecasvium eapree. Linn.) This scale insect was sent me in 1904 on apple twigs from Ross by Mr. Getting, with a note that they occurred here and there all over the plantations. Mr. Murdock of Westerhill, Linton, sent the same in 1906, and specimens on the apple were sent from Devon by Major Vigors in 1902. Although no bad attack of this scale insect has occurred, the very fact of its wide distribution, which is said by Newstead (1) to be general in suitable localities throughout England, makes it of importance. Carpenter records it from apple in County Cavan and on peach at Ballyhaire in Ireland. The scale insect is a large brown, soft, scale-like body, shown in Fig. 143. That it may under certain circumstances increase abnormally we gather from Newstead’s description of it killing large patches of a hawthorn hedge skirting the borders of the city of Chester. The food plants are extremely variable, including the following given by Fernald (2) and Newstead (1):—Salix, linden, poplar, Pyrus malus, P. communis, P. domesticus (Fernald), hawthorn, Cotoneaster, elm, sycamore, oak, alder, wild and cultivated roses 176 Insect Pests. hazel, horse chestnut, Jaurel, cherry, sloe and enonymus. Teh (3) also vives, in addition, Prinus armeniaca, Tt seems to he generally spread over Enrope, and Fernald records it in Nova Scotia, a probable introduction. It seems to be rare in Wales and Scotland. I found it on apples near Criccieth in 1889 in some numbers, but I believe they had been recently imported from the Midlands. Livk-HIsvrory, This insect is subject to much variation ; the old adult female after death is dusky chestnut -brown, of spherical shape and varies in leneth about } to nearly 4 inch. rather less in breadth. The male is a pale crimson with two Iroad short wines, two lone til filaments ; the pupariuin is small and elongated oval. The male occurs in April and May. The eggs are pale vellowish-white and hatch at the end of the summer into pink larvee (BE. which soon become oranve and crimson or" ran ae ‘sain red-brown, The first moult takes place before winter, when they are found on the twigs as small elongate brown bodies only 345 inch lone. In spring dusky transverse stripes appear and the sexes can be separated. By the time the males are ready to hatch, the females are mature, and the wineed inales fertilise them. Eve-laying then commences. A healthy averave female, savs Newstead, lays about 2,000 evus. NATURAL ENEMIES, Newstead records a small hymenopterous parasite (Blustoth ria sevice, Dal.) as a great enemy. This small parasite produces deformi- ties in the seale insect altering its external form. When the parasite escapes, a small hole is seen in the dried female (so-called seale), Birds also destroy numbers. TREATMENT. This insect, should it appear in large numbers in a plantation, would be best attacked by paratlin emulsion in late summer atter the larvie have hatched, Insects Injurious to the Apple. 77 REFERENCES. (1) Newstead, R. ‘Monograph of the Coccide of the British Isles,’ vol. II., pp. 105-113 (1908). (2) Fernald, M. EH. A Catalogue of the Coccide of the World. Bull. No. 88. Massachusetts Agricultural College, p. 188 (1908) (= Hulecaniwm). (3) Reh, Dr. ‘Jahrbuch der Hamb. Wissensch. Anstalten,’ XVIII., p. 228 (1900). (4) Theobald, F. V. Report on Economic Zoology for the.year ending April 1st, 1905, p. 40 (1905). N APRICOT. bo ( 181 ) LIST OF INSECTS INJURIOUS TO THE APRICOT. COLEOPTERA. Rev-Leccep Wervit (Otiorhynchus tenebricosus). Foliage and buds (vide Raspberry). Bark BEEtie (Scolytus rugulosus. Ratz.). Bark, p. 111. SHot Borer Begrie (Xyleborus dispar. Fab.). Wood (vide Plum). LEPIDOPTERA. Rep-Banpep CLEarwine Mors (Aigeria myopiformis. Bork.). Bark, p. 17. Macriz Moru (Abraxas grossulariata. Linn.), p. 206. Winter Mors (Cheimatobia brwmata. Linn.). Foliage and blossom, p. 50. MorrLtepD Umper Mors (Hybernia defoliaria. Clerck.) Foliage, p. 58. Bup Morn (Hedya ocellana. Fab.). Buds and foliage and blossom, p. 82. THE Smart Apricot and Vine Mors (Batodes angustiorana. Haw.) Leaves, p. 181. HEMIPTERA. Peacu Aputs (Aphis amygdali. Fons.). Foliage (vide Peach). PgacH Scate (Lecaniwm persice. Geoff.). Wood (vide Peach). CRUSTACEA. Woontice (Oniscide). Ripe fruit. THE SMALL APRICOT AND VINE MOTH. (Batodes angustiorana, Haw.) This small Tortrix moth feeds on a great variety of trees in its caterpillar stage, especially noticeable amongst fruit, as food plants, are the apricot, vine and pear. The moth is fairly widely distributed, and now and then does much harm to wall fruit, and also occurs on the apricot in the open in sufficient numbers to damage the foliage. It is also known as Ditula angustiorana. 182 Insect Pests. Lire-Hisrory AND HABITs. The moth appears in June, July and August. It varies from 3 to nearly 2 inch in wing expanse. The female has reddish-brown to reddish-ochreous fore wings, with reddish-brown markings as follows: a basal patch forming an oblique streak, a reddish-brown central spot reaching nearly to the anal angle, between it and the central band is a pale yellow costal spot; the male is of a greyish- ochreous colour with brown and black markings. The eves are laid on the twigs and hatch out early in spring. The larvee are somewhat variable, some are greyish-green, others yellowish-green with slightly paler spots, from which arise delicate pale hairs; the head varies from pale brown to green, and is very shiny. There are the normal number of legs, which are green, and when mature the length is rather more than } inch. They become especially noticeable in April and May and continue into June. They curl the leaves up into tubes, in which they live; usually a single leaf is made into the tube, but sometimes they spin two together. They are very active when disturbed, wriggling back- wards after the manner of all Tortrices and lower themselves from the tubes by a strand of silk. Pupation takes place in the leaf chambers. The eggs appear to hatch out irregularly, for we find caterpillars of all sizes at the same time. On the vine these caterpillars eat the leaves and spin the fruit clusters together and so ruin them. TREATMENT. It is always advisable to crush the little caterpillars in the tubes, or, better still, jar the stems and branches and so cause them to leave their shelter, when they may be taken off without any damage to the tender leaves. Arsenate of lead may be used as soon as the bloom is set, and in winter an occasional spraying with lime and salt or caustic wash does some good. In the case of vines little harm is ever done in this country, and it calls for no special treatment. Properly kept vineries, cleaned down every season, are not likely to suffer from the Tortrix larve. CHERRY. ( 185 ) LIST OF INSECTS INJURIOUS TO THE CHERRY. A. LEPIDOPTERA. Larce TorrToisrsHeLt Burrerriy (Vanessa polychloros. Linn.). Foliage, p. 186. Winter Mora (Cheimatobia brumata. Linn.). Foliage and Fruit, p. 50. Morrtep Umser Mots (Hybernia defoliaria, Clerck.). Foliage and Fruit, p. 58, Fieure-or-8 Motu (Diloba cwruleocephala. Linn.). Foliage, p. 35. Lackey Mors (Clissiocampa neustria. Linn.), Foliage, p. 80. Gotp Tam Mors (Porthesia similis. Fab.). Foliage, p. 27. Burr Trp (Phalera bucephala. Linn.). Foliage (vide Nuts). Woop Lrovarp (Zeuzera pyrina. Linn.). Wood, p. 46. CHERRY AND PLum TREE Borer (Semasia woeberiana. Schiff.). Bark, p. 188, Cuerry Fruit Mors (Argyresthia nitidella, Fabr.). Fruit, p. 192. PistoL CasE-BEARER (Coleophora anatipennella. Hb.). Foliage, p. 195. B. COLEOPTERA. Bark BEETLE (Scolytus rugulosus. Ratz.). Bark and Wood, p. 111. Cock Cuarer (Melolontha vulgaris. Fab.). Leafage (vide Raspberry). GaRDEN CHAFER (Phyllopertha horticola. Linn.). Fruit and Foliage (vide Raspberry). Green Lear Weevit (Phyllobius maculicornis. Germ.). Buds and Foliage, p. 119. Ostonc Lear Weevit (Phyllobiws oblongus. Linn.). Buds and Foliage, p. 119. C. DIPTERA. Tue Cuserry Frurr Fry (Rhagoletis cerast. Linn.). Fruit (vide Appendix). D. HYMENOPTERA. CHERRY AND Pear Suug Worm (Eriocampa limacina. Cameron). Foliage (vide Pear). E. HEMIPTERA. Cuerry Buack Fry (Myzus cerasi. Fab.). Shoots and Foliage, p. 197. Tur Currry Bue (Tropicoris rufipes. Linn.). Foliage and Shoots, p. 199. Cuckoo Serr (Philenus spumarius. Linn.). Axils of Foliage, p. 200. 186 Insect Pests. THE LARGE TORTOISESHELL BUTTERFLY. (Vanessa polychloros. Linn.) This beautiful butterfly is now and again sufficiently abundant to do some harm to fruit trees. Owing to the gregarious habits of the caterpillars the damage is especially noticeable, for large circum- scribed areas are defoliated by the colonies. In France the cherry is often attacked by these caterpillars. In - this country it also attacks the pear, and I have once found a [F. Edenden. FIG, 144.—THE LARGE TORTOISESHELL BUTTERFLY (Vawessa polychloros) AND CHRYSALIS. colony on the apple in Kent. Its chief food plant seems to be the elm, but it also is found on aspen, sallow and osiers. Tascheubere (1) and Kaltenbach (2) also record it from applein Germany. Ormer id (3) refers to it as damaging cherry trees at Lymington in Hampshire. Tn the neighbourhood of Wye Lhave often seen cherry trees, especially sour cherries, stripped by the caterpillars, but not since 1903. . Lnsects Injurious to the Cherry. 187 Lure-Hisrory ano Hanrrs. The butterfly is about 2% to 3 inches across the expanded wines. The colour of the fore wings is rich or inge-brown, dusky at the base, marked as shown in the photograph (Fie. 144) with meee the hind Wings are of a similar colour, dusky at the base, with a single black spot at the ae of the upper edge. There is a dusky border to the fore wines and the same to the hind, with dark blue crescents, the largest in the middle. The butterfly appears in July, and many hibernate over the winter in sheltered spots. The eves are laid in May on the twigs of the food plants, often completely surrounding the twigs in vine-like manner. The caterpillars live in colonies until their first moult, when they spread over the trees. The young ones cover themselves with a web al [BL Bdenden, FIG. 145.—CATERPILLAR OF LARGE TORTOISESHELL BUTTERFLY. of fine silk, beneath which they live. Buds and young leaves are eaten by them in their early stages, and the twigs in their neighbour- hood ave soon stripped of all foliage The mature caterpillar is ae or brownish-black, with a yellow line alone the sides, and the yellowish-brown spines have black points, numerous ochreous-brown freckles on the back, formine a longitudinal band bounded by the sub-dorsal spines ; in the middle of the back is a dorsal line of black; on the sides are numerous erey specks giving a greyish hue; around the spiracles there is ochreous- brown. When full grown the larva is about 2 inches long. sy mid June they have all dispersed and suspend themselves by the tail and change into the chrysalis state, hanging head downwards. The chrysalis has two rows of tubereles running down the back, yellow at the extremity, ringed with black; at the thoracie end of 188 Insect Pests. this row of tubercles there are three spots on each side which are mother-of-pearl white, the surrounding area being reddish ; these spots become golden, then red; the thorax is reddish ; the abdomen ochreous, grizzled with black. They are attached to the twigs and leaves upon which they feed. TREATMENT is seldom called for, but if they are very abundant the colonies should be collected when young and the mature larve might be poisoned with arsenates. All egg-masses should be destroyed. REFERENCES. (1) Taschenberg, H. L. ‘Praktische Insekten-kunde,’ III., p. 2 (1880). (2) Kaltenbach, J. H. ‘Die Pflanzenfeinde Insekten,’ p. 183 (1874). (3) Ormerod, H. A. ‘Handbook of Insects Injurious to Orchard and Bush Fruits,’ p. 50 (1898). (4) Buckler, W. ‘Larve of British Butterflies and Moths,’ vol. I., p. 54 (1886). THE CHERRY AND PLUM TREE BORER. (Semasia woeberiana. Schiff.*) This insect frequently occurs in the Sittingbourne area in cherry trees. Mr. F. Smith of Loddington informs me it also occurs in the Maidstone region. Stainton (2) says it is widely distributed in Britain and generally common. The original note sent me concerning this pest was in 1897, and was recorded in the Board of Agriculture Journal (1). It was then stated “that for two or three years a couple of cherry trees, planted about nine years ago, did not make the progress they should have done, and upon close examination little brown deposits were found at the bottom of the trees on the bark; larve were discovered. Numerous other trees were seen with deposits near the ground, and it was feared the pest might be spreading.” This was the record of an attack at Rodmersham, near Sitting- bourne. It has continued to some extent in Rodmersham to the present time. Mr. Mercer wrote again in 1906 sending‘ specimens of insects that are doing an immense amount of harm to our cherry trees in the neighbourhood by boring into the bark of the trunk of the tree, and causing large swellings, finally destroying the trees after a few years.” In 1906 Mr. Lewis Levy of Borden Hall, near Sittingbourne, * The synonymy of this species is as follows:—Semasia ornatana, Ub. ; Tortriz ornatana, Hb.; G. woeberana, Haw. D. L.; G. weberana, Wa. Insects Injurious to the Cherry. 189 wrote concerning it, stating that the bark was seriously damaged near the ground of about twenty trees, thirteen years old. It was pointed out that those trees were worst where rouch crass was around the base. FIG. 146.—PLUM AND CHERRY TREE STEM BORER (Semasia woeberiaint). A, adult (reduced); B, larva; C, larva in wood ; D, larval chamber and frass (2). In 1887 I found it damaging wall peach trees at Kingston-on- Thames, where it eventually caused their death. It is recorded by Wilkinson (8) from the vicinity of Edinburgh and at Belfast, he referring to it as attacking the laurel, almond and apple. [F. Edenden, FIG. 147.— PIECE OF CHERRY BARK (inner side), SHOWING WORKINGS OF THE SEMASTA LARV-E. Kollar (3), Kaltenbach (+) and Taschenberg(5) refer to it in Germany. The damage is done to apple, plum, cherry, nectarme and peach, 190 Insect Pests. by the caterpillars burrowing under the bark, where they feed on the inner bark and cause an exudation of the sap. Masses of gum appear in the cherry, swellings and rugosities in the others, and the trees will eradually decay wnder the attack. ~The burrows formed by the larve are of irregular form, some- times chamber-like. Air-holes are made by them, and out of these a brown granular “ frass” is extruded. These “frass” heaps were particularly noticeable on some pitched trees at Borden Hall, the larvie eating their way through the pitch for air, and to pass out the excrement. The tunnels formed by the larvie in some cases passed deep down, and some chambers examined were nearly 24 inches across. The attack mainly seems to be on the base of the trunk, and up to about five feet. As many as ten openings were found on the trunk of one tree at Borden which I sawin 1906. The majority of openings are from one to four feet up the trunk. Lire-Hisrory, The moths appear in May and again in September, there being two broods during the year. They settle when at rest on the trunks of the trees, and are then very inconspicuous. The wing expanse varies from $ to nearly } inch. In colour they are dull orange-brown to chestnut-brown on the fore wings, with dark markings, small dull yellow streaks on the costa, an eye-like spot on the tip of each wing, and a pearly border enclosing three dark lines; the under wings are unicolorous brown. The moths appeared in ; 1901 and 1906 on the 21st of May and eon- py tinued until the 6th of June. They lay their eges in crevices in the bark or under the rind, and in six days the small caterpillars appear irk. and tunnel at onee into the inner bark, where ee arc they pupate in late August and in September. The caterpillars are dull pinkish-white to pale dusky-brown, with a dark bi-lobed head and two large median and small lateral dusky tubercles on the first six segments, a simple hair arising from each; on the four following segments are two small extra dorsal spots behind the two lare ones, and the tail end is darker than the rest of the body. The legs and the prolegs are normal. In length they measure a little over 4 inch. : The chestnut-brown pupa works its way parily out of the exit hole hefore the moth emerges. The pupa is enclosed in a cocoon. Insects Injurious to the Cherry. 19] The pupal stave is found to last from twenty-one to twenty- tive days, . The second brood, which mainly oceurs in September, lay their egus in a similar manner, and the larvie remain feeding under the bark all the winter. They commence to pupate about the 30th of April, and finish by the second week in May. But im 1906 there were still larvie on the 12th of May. Just previous to hatehine the pupie force their way out of the bark and the moths eseape. PREVENTION AND TREATMENT. Prevention may possibly be carried out by smearing trees i infested orchards, at the time the moths are about, with some noxious mixture, Cow-dung or clay and lime would make a good mixture ; sf [FL Bdenden. FIG, 149. —PUPAe OF PLUM AND CHERRY TREE BOWER (Semasia woeberiand) PROTECTING FROM BARK, a good smeariny of grease, if a pure sample is obtained, might be shnilarly used. Mr. Levy’s plan of thickly coating the stems with pitch has been found to do no harm to the trees, and has certainly reduced the numbers of the insect. A eood brushing or painting with arsenate of lead and clay might kill the caterpillars eating in or out of the trunk if put on thickly.* If only a few trees are attacked the larva: may be killed by cutting into the tunnels with a knife or probing with a stiff wire. REFERENCES. (1) Theobald, F. V. Journal Board of Agriculture, p. 165 (1897). (2) Stainton, H. T. *A Manual of British Butterflies and Moths,’ vol. IT.. y. 241 (1859). (3) Wollar, 1. * Insects Tyjurious to Foresters, Fruit Growers and Gardeners,’ (Eng. Trans.). p. 286 (1840). * This has been tried by Mv. Honeyball of Tevnhaim, but found to do no good. 192 Insect Pests. (4) Kaltenbach, J. H. ‘Die Pflanzenfeinde aus der Klasse der Insekten,’ pp. 150, 168 and 193 (1874). (5) Taschenberg, E. L. ‘Praktische Insekten-kunde,’ IL., p. 220 (1879). (6) Theobald, F. V. Report on Economie Zoology for year ending April Ist, 1906, pp. 89-42 (1906). (7) Theobald, F. V. Report on Economic Zoology for the year ending April 1st, 1907, pp. 45-47 (1907). (8) Wilkinson, S. J. ‘The British Tortrices,’ p. 196 (1859). THE CHERRY FRUIT MOTH. (Argyresthia nitidella, Faby.) The only references I know of to this insect are an account given hy Whitehead (1) in 1896, from which these notes are taken, and a further record in 1898 (4). Inquiries made amongst cherry growers in Kent have failed to obtain any information of such an attack during recent years. {Horace Knight. FIG, 150.—CHERRY FRUIT MOTH CArguresthia nitidella). Another closely allied fruit pest occurs in Britain which is often very harmful on the Continent, namely, A. eonjwgella, Zell, which is excellently described and figured by Lampa(2). The differences hetween these species are pointed out later. The damage recorded to cherries by Whitehead is best given in his own words :—* In the beginning of May it is often noticed that the small cherries look unhealthy just after the fruit has ‘set, and that later on many fall off. If these fallen cherries are closely examined, in many cases a hole will be found evidently caused by some insect. In the spring of this year (1896) so many complaints were received of the un- healthy state of cherry trees that investigation was made, and it was Insects Injurious to the Cherry. 193 seen that there was a very small maggot, or larva, in a large per- centage of the fruitlets, which were about the size of a small grain of wheat, and still had on the floral envelopes or ‘ caps.’” Lire-History. This small moth belongs to the Tineina and to the family Argyresthide, of which we have thirty-two species in this country of which no less than twenty-four belong to the genus Argyresthia. The species referred to by Whitehead as a cherry enemy normally lives in the shoots of hawthorn, according to Stainton (3). Whitehead describes the specimens as 54 lines across the wings ; the fore wings light brown, with white or cream-coloured inner margins. In the middle there is a fascia of a deeper brown colour which terminates in the tip of the wings. This certainly answers to Stainton’s description of the species, and not to -4. conjugella, which one would imagine this cherry pest to be, or still more likely A. ephippella, which is normally found on the cherry. The moth is said to place its eggs on the shoots near the flower buds, where they remain during the winter, and the caterpillars hatch just when the flowers are forming, and enter them, and later the fruit. The moth, according to Stainton, appears in May, but Whitehead says the latter part of June and the beginning of July. This is the time A. ephippella appears, and is another reason for thinking White- head is in error over the identification. The larva in the cherry is described by Whitehead as being light green, becoming grey later on; the head brown, also the first segment; the six true legs brown. It gets into the tiny cherry, in which it is curled up, scoops out the inside, and remains, it seems, for from fifteen to seventeen days in the larval condition. Then it spins up in the cherry and in its withered inflorescence in a densely thick white cocoon, from which in about fifteen days the moth comes forth. OrHER Spectres INJuRIoUS TO FRUIT. Two others of this genus injurious to fruit occur in this country, namely, A. ephippella, Fab., and A. conjugella, Zeller. The first-named has ochreous-brown fore wings; the inner margin white, interrupted beyond the middle by a dark brown spot which can be traced across the wings as an oblique fascia, terminating on the costa. The second has the fore wings of a purplish fuscous hue, with the inner margin whitish, interrupted beyond the middle by a dark fuscous spot, nearly opposite to which is a dark fuscous spot on the costa; and on the costa towards the tip are two whitish spots. 0) 194 Insect Pests. Wing expanse in both 4 inch. The larva of .A. conjugella is described by Stainton (3) as being dull whitish-yellow ; the head and second segment pale brown. Lampa (2) figures it pinkish and with additional dark areas on the anal segment. A. ephippella feeds in its larval state on shoots of the cherry, according to Stainton, and is found there in May. Taschen- berg (5) refers to it in Germany as occurring in May in the leaf-buds of the hazel, in the leaf and blossom buds of the wild plum, the cultivated plum and cherry, in united leaves of Crategus terminalis ; also records it on the apple trees as becoming injurious. It is possible that this is the species referred to by Whitehead. The second species, A. conjugella, feeds in its larval stage in the apple, and has been found in this country in the berries of the roan tree or mountain ash. Its work in the apple is very marked, small tunnels being made in the pulp of the fruit in all directions. Warburton (6) described the attack of a new apple pest in Devon- shire which he said was due to a caterpillar, ‘“‘ which when bred out will doubtless prove to be an Argyresthia,” but it does not answer to the description of the larva of A. conjugella. The apples become riddled with fine winding burrows, and Warburton pointed out that when the caterpillars were present it was by no means easy to extract one unhurt, for the complicated windings of the burrows have to be followed with the greatest care. Now and again the borings take a complete loop and the larva enters the fruit again at another point. In bad cases the core had always been reached and one or more of the pips excavated. The working is just as is described on the Continent, but the difference of the caterpillar is apparent. The treatment for these fruit pests is little understood; probably spraying with arsenate of lead will be found successful. : REFERENCES. (1) Whitehead, Sir C. Journal Board of Agriculture, vol. II., No. 2, p. 158 (1896). (2) Lampa, Sven. ‘ Uppsatser Praktisk Entomologi,’ 16 pp., 1-16 and Taf. 1. Upsala (1906). (8) Stainton, H. T. *A Manual of British Butterflies and Moths,’ vol. IL., p. 869 (1859). . (4) Whitehead, Sir C. Journal Board of Agriculture, vol. V., No. 1, p. 59 (1898). (5) Taschenberg, E. L. ‘ Praktische Insekten-kunde,’ III., p. 297 (1880). (6) Warburton, Cecil. Annual Report of the Zoologist for 1898, Journal Royal Agricultural Society, p. 760 (1899). Insects Injurtous to the Cherry. 195 THE CHERRY TREE CASE-BEARER. (Colvophora analipenielte, TIh.) This insect is one easily told by the curious case formed by the eaterpillar resembling roughly a pistol, and hence it has been called the Pistol Case-Bearer. The first inquiry I had concerning it was in 1893, when a uumber of the larval cases were sent me from Sellindge with a note regarding the great damage they lad been doing to cherry foliage during that year (1). In 1897 a similar attack was noticed at Wye (1), the foliage being denuded by these insects. Inquiries have also been received from Sussex, Surrey and Somersetshire, The damage done by these insects is chiefly in sprine-time, when they come from their winter rest and commence devouring the buds as they open. As the leaves open out they crawl with their cases over the foliace and devour the upper epidermis and the mesophyll, leaving a pale patch of the lower skin, much as is done by the Slueworm. Lintner (2) refers to an allied species, C. malivorella, Riley, doing i i PF damage in America. Se ee Lire-Hisvrory, Ere, 3. The adult moth may be found wie ‘ ‘ are L 4 , Seiten ps me on the wine from July to August, Pacer ean Erarine en and ocewrs from Neweastle to the DETACHED, ALSO MOTI OF TIE PISTOL ‘ "ASE-BEARER,. most southern part of England. : The wings are creamy-white, with numerous sc ‘attered fuscous scales, which are especially noticeable tow ards the tips of the wings; the fringes are white; the hind wings are dusky, with long fringes of dusky grey, paler than the wings. The moths are found flying about hedgerows towards evening. In length they reach about 4 inch from wing-tip to wing-tip. — The female lays her eggs on the underside of the leaves. Ss Besides the cherry they Jay them alse on the pple and the sloe, but it seems to be always aM cherry that they attack in nunbers. T ' in tw : ‘ee weeks. In a few days The ova appear to hatch in two or three weeks ‘ i () 196 Insect Pests. the larval cases commence to appear, which form a kind of shell which entirely encloses the larvie in later life. The larva is reddish-brown to almost orange in colour, with a dark brown shiny head, the anal region darkened, the skin wrinkled ; lencth less than } inch. The larval case (Fig. 151) is dark brown to black, pistol shaped, with a white border around the mouth of the case, slightly swollen at the sides, partially snail - like (helicoid) and much wrinkled. This case is narrow and more curved when young, The larvee may be found from Aucust through the winter to June. They hatch out from eggs laid in August and on to the early part of Septem- ber and soon form a_ house, and continue feeding into the autumn as long as_ possible. They pass the winter attached by silken strands to the twigs FIG, 152. —AN APPLE CASE-BRARER heer and shoots of the trees, gene- AT & AND MOTH. rally ina half-grown state. In A a ai early spring they commence to feed on the buds and unfolding leaves. Pupation takes place inside the “case-house”; the pupa is pale brown, and lasts in that condition for three, four or more weeks. Before the moth emerges the pupa is forced partly out of the case and the sides of the case burst. Narurat ENEMIEs. Numerous small hymenoptera are parasitie on this moth. In one instance, namely, at Sellindge, the Rev. S. Patrick found that nearly every case was parasitised. Lintner (2) also refers to a Chaleid parasite of CL malirorella, REMEDIES. Spraying with arsenate of lead. This should be done in autumn after a bad attack to prevent the larvee from damagin leaves, buds, ete., in the followine sprig. - @ the young RerrerENces, (1) Theobald, FV. Journal 5. B. Agricultural College, No. 6. p. 9 (1897) (2) Lintner, J. A. Vivst Report on Tnjurious and Other Insects of the State of New York, p. 165 (1882), Insects Injurious lo the Cherry. 197 THE CHERRY BLACK FLY. (Myzus cerasi, Fah.) Well known to every cherry grower is the Black Ily, not only in this country, but all over Europe, America, Africa, Australia (4) and New Zealand. The black aphis of the cherry swarms over the shoots (6) and gets into the leaves, causing them to curl up. So thick do they become some — seasons that they not only destroy the leaves, but kill the ends of the shoots. Sometimes the leaves do not curl at once. Fitch refers to this aphis in America, and records as many as 190 ranged down the mid rib of one leaf. Moreover, they ex- crete a large quantity of very gummy honeydew, and this falls on the fruit and ruins it. The black fungus grows rapidly on the honeydew of this dolphin, and this, with their excrement, | soon ruins the crop. All Sa tea Ee ae varieties of cherries are CHERRY BLACK APHIS (Myzus cerasi) ON CHERRY siloor, attacked by it all over the kingdom. It also oceurs upon red and black currants. On the large cherry trees in Worcestershire, Mr. Ballard of Eardiston informs me they do not look upon it as a serious pest, yet one sees the top shoots dying from its attack. It is mainly on wall fruit and on young trees that it does much damage, especially to the morello cherry. Both sweet and sour cherries are used as the host plant. HH is also recorded from peaches in Australia (4) and on the plum in America by Thomas (1). Ants are very abundant amongst colonies of this aphis. 198 Insect Pests. Lire-Histrory AND HABITS. The wingless viviparous female is black and rather shiny, with yellowish and black legs. This female as a rule appears low down on the leaves in spring and has sprung from an egg laid on the cherry tree. She soon produces pale lice, which darken and grow into wingless viviparous females, and these seem to ascend to the top shoots, over which they swarm and produce countless living young, which spread on to the leaves and feed beneath them and cause them to curl up, and in dry weather soon kill them. In July many change to pupe, which have an olive-green appearance with yellowish wing cases. These give rise to winged viviparous females, which have a black thorax, greenish abdomen and black cornicles, with broad trans- (7B. parent wings; this female is about 75 inch WIG, 154.—NyNPH oF THE cERRY Jong, What becomes of these I do not APHIS (Myzus cerast). _ Cietiipeniuieen know. They certainly suddenly leave the cherry trees. Buckton (5) records the viviparous form on the currant at the end of October. Do they fly back to the cherry ? Certainly we find the eggs on the cherry (6), and the oviparous form has been found there and is described as being dark shiny brown ; the male, which is also found in October, is brownish-black with yellowish abdomen with five brown transverse bars and lateral spots. The egg-laying females I have found as late as the 5th of November on young cherry trees in Kent. The oviparous females are wingless ; the males are winged, and are said by Whitehead to occur in mid September. Each female lays from one to four eggs, sometimes on the shoots, but, I have noticed, especially on any suckers growing roundatree. They are black and shiny and placed near a bud. The time of egg-laying must vary, for we find it recorded from September to October, and it has been seen by myself as late as November. Wallace (4) records two swarms during the year, one in June and the other in October. The latter swarm contains the males. PREVENTION AND TREATMENT. There is no doubt that autumnal washing would do much good by destroying the late generation before the eggs are laid. Insects Injurious to the Cherry. 199 A strong paraffin wash may be used at that time, as the leaves will have done most of their work. No wash will harm the egos, As a remedy there is nothing better than soft soap and quassia ; the latter is most essential for this pest, as it cleans off the foul black debris ; the more put into the wash the better. The time to spray is when the black fly are as seen in the photo- graph, namely, collected on the shoots, before the leaves are invaded. Two washings are usually necessary. Good results have also been obtained with tobacco and soft soap wash. REFERENCES, (1) Thomas, C. Third Annual Report of the State Entomologist of Illinois, p. 7). | (2) Whitehead, Sir C. Report on Insects Injurious to Fruit, p. 78 (1886). (3) Ormerod, HE, A. ‘Handbook of Insects Injurious to Orchard and Bush Fruits,’ p. 49 (1898). (4) French, C. ‘A Handbook of the Destructive Insects of Victoria,’ pt. IL., pp. 9-18 (1893). (5) Buckton, G. B. ‘Monograph of the British Aphides,’ I., p. 174 (1875). (6) Theobald, F. V. Report on Economie Zoology for the year ending April 1st, 1907, p. 48 (1907). A COMMON SHIELD BUG (fropicoris rufipes. Linn.) ATTACKING CHERRY TREES. This large and handsome Shield Bug was received from Mr. Emptage in August 1907, with a note that it was swarming over cherry trees at St. Ives, Huntingdonshire, and doing considerable damage. lLarve, nymphs and adults were sent, all taken at the same time. No mention was made as to whether it had attacked the fruit. An allied species, Peltophora pedicellata Kirby, called the Cherry Bug, attacks the fruit in New South Wales (Miscellaneous Publications, No. 538, ‘ Notes on Australian Hemiptera, p. 3, 1901. Frogeatt). This is a very abundant insect met with in most localities in woods, fields and gardens. It even occurs in London. Although it is said to be generally carnivorous in habits, and to live mainly on the juices of caterpillars, I do not think that this is the usual food, and believe it to be almost exclusively vegetarian. Professor G. H. Carpenter tells me he finds it mainly vegetarian in Treland. The specimens received from St. Ives differ from the type in having a yellow apex to the scutellum, not an orange one. Mr. Distant does not know the variety, and it is thus possibly undescribed. 200 Insect Pests. The larvee and nymphs have a particularly obnoxious smell. They are easily destroyed by jarring them off the trees and crushing on the eround. It will be interesting to see if this new habit of Zropicoris rufipes becomes permanent, or if it will remain an isolated case. THE CUCKOO SPIT INSECT. (Philenus spumarius. Linn.) The so-called Cuckoo Spit Insect is now and again found on fruit trees, especially cherry and apple. The white frothy substance formed by the larvie aud nymphs is well known, and is especi- ally noticeable on hawthorn hedges and on roses. The young forms are pale i greenish-yellow and are quite }: covered with the wet froth. The mature Frog-hopper (Fig 155) is winged, and by Tr Edenden. means of the wings and hind FIG. 155.—ADULT FROG-HOPPERS (Philienus spumaria). legs it takes flying leaps into the air. It is abundant everywhere, and reaches about } inch in length. The front wings are brown to yellowish-brown with pale areas; all shades occur, from almost entirely yellow to black, but it may always be told from other related species by the distinctly curved side margins of the elytra. i Should they occur in any numbers on fruit trees they may be easily killed if the trees are heavily washed with water and then sprayed with tobacco wash (vide appendix). CURRANTS. ( 203) LIST OF INSECTS, ETC., INJURIOUS TO CURRANTS. A. LEPIDOPTERA. Currant CLearwine (Zigeria lipuliformis, Clerck.). Shoots, p. 208. Currant Morn (Abraras grossulariata. Winn.). Foliage and Buds, p. 206. Winter Morn (Cheimatobia brumata. Linn.). Foliage, p. 50. Currant and Hop Pue Morn Uéupithecia assimilata. Gmn.). Foliage, p. 211. Currant FRuir anp Snoor Borer (Incurvaria capitella. Clevek.). Shoots and Fruit, p. 213. Currant Frurr Mory (Spilonota roborana. Tr.). Fruit, p. 212. B. HYMENOPTERA. CURRANT AND GoosEBERRY SawrLy (Nematus ribesii. Cameron). Foliage, p. 226. C. COLEOPTERA. THE GuAucous Lear Wervit (Phyllobius calcaratus. Fab.). Foliage and Buds, p. 215, D. HEMIPTERA. Currant Roor Louse (Schizoncura fodiens. Buckton.).* Roots, p. 221. Currant BuistTer Lear Apuis (Rhopalosiphum ribesii. Linn.). Foliage, p. 216. Currant Lear anp SHoor Apuis (Myzus r/bis. Linn.). Foliage and Shoots, p. 216. Brown Currant ScaLe (Lecanium persice var. sarothamnt. Douglas). Wood and Shoots, p. 226. WHITE WooLLy CuRRANT ScaLe (Pulvinaria vitis var, ribesiw. Sig.). Wood and Shoots, p. 223. E. ACARINA (Mites). Curraxt GALL Mire (Eriophyes ribis. Nalepa). Buds, p. 281. THE CURRANT CLEARWING. (Aiyeriu. tipuliformis. Linn.) This common moth is closely allied to the Apple Clearwing (p. 17). It is known also under the popular name of Currant Borer, and is sometimes spoken of scientifically as Sesta tipuliforms. * This is now known to be Schizonewra ulmi, the Leaf-Curling Elm Aphis. 204. Insect Pests. It is well known to most currant growers, being fairly widely distributed over England and on the Continent, but only occasionally is it found in sufficient numbers to cause any serious damage. It is well known in Germany, and I have found it working in considerable numbers in Normandy and Picardy(1). From Europe it has been imported, according to Lintner (2), into America, where it is also destructive to the currant. Red, white and black currants are attacked, but it is especially the latter which suffer. Mr. Buley, writing me from Woodnesborough in 1906, said that he had found it boring into the gooseberry. Reports of its damage have also reached me from Cambridge, from several places around London, and many in Kent. Lirx-History, Etc. The moth (Fig. 156) is a little more than 2 inch in expanse of wings and about 3 inch in length of body. The abdomen is metallic black or bluish, the segments edged with yellow, the abdomen thus being banded with three yellow stripes in the female and four in the male, the apex ending in a fan-shaped mass of metallic purple or black hair-like scales. The thorax is also metallic purple with a yellow stripe on each side. The fore wings are transparent, the upper margin black with a dark orange tint on the upper edge; tip streaked with black ; lower edge black, tinged with orange; hind wings with black margins, tinged with orange; fringes black. The moths appear mainly in June. The earliest record I have is 25th of May, when I found numbers in a garden at Ealing in 1884. One habit I have repeatedly noticed in this species is that they always occur on the wing early in the day, between seven and =| ten seeming to be the favourite hours, and «| then only on warm, sunny mornings. They (Fz are seen hovering around the bushes, now MG, 196-—ouomn, ARWING and again settling on the leaves and sunning themselves. Once in 1892 I found them in numbers in a garden at Cambridge resting on the stems and on the undersides of the leaves of red currants during the latter part of the day. The female lays her eggs on the stems; as a rule I only found one placed on each stem. The eggs are oval and yellowish-white in colour and seem to be mainly laid near where a small shoot ora bud arises. In ten days Insects, etc., Injurious to Currants. 205 (probably the time is variable) a minute white larva comes forth, devours its eee-shell, bores its way into the pith, often first workine its way into a tender side-shoot of old bushes. This small shoot soon dies and falls off, and in many cases leaves behind a simall hole in the stem, or the bud dies in a similar way. On reaching the pith the larva works both upwards and downwards, but in all the damaged shoots | have examined the white larva has had its head pointing upwards, In this position the caterpillar remains during the winter. The larva is creamy-white, the head chestnut-brown and very shiny, and which when retracted into the first segment shows through it, giving the seement a dark appearance; the remaining segments have each two pairs of oval shiny wart-hke markings on the dorsal surface ; the anal segment is yellowish-brown with four large hairs; the other sey- ment has two pairs of hairs, except the first, which has three ; the third segment from the tail las two black spots on the posterior edge of the dorsum; the spiracles are black; legs brown, and the prolegs have black edges. The larvie commence to pupate in April. Morris (3) states that they may remain in the larval state till May. The pupa is chestnut-brown ; the posterior edges of the sexments have a number of spines on the dorsal surface, and the head is rather prolonged in front. Before the imago emerves, the pupa forces its way partly out ef the hole formed by the larva. The emergence usually takes place in the early morning. The general signs of the presence of this insect in a plantation are as follows :— Gi) In early summer the dying-olf of the shoots, smallness of the leaves and the fruit. Gi) In winter one may detect the holes into the shoots referred to; these are about Linch across, and a quantity of “ frass ” inay often be seen around this hole. Gii) On eutting open a dead shoot the white FIG. 157.—LARVA OF THE CURRANT CLEARWING larva may be found within durine the in sity, ; (Natural size.) winter and early spring. PREVENTION, All that can be done as far as our present knowledve goes is to go eavefully over the bushes, in plantations where the attack occurs, and ms uv 206 Insect Pests. prune off and destroy all those showing the holes mentioned, cutting back until all traces of the black tunnel have disappeared. Ru FERENCES. (1) Theobald, F. V. Jowmal of the South Hastern Agricultural College, No. 5, p. 8 (1897). (2) Lintner, J. A. York, p. 8 (1882). (8) Morris, #. O. ‘ British Moths,’ vol. I., p. 23 (1872). First Annual Report of the State Entomologist of New THE MAGPIE OR CURRANT MOTH. (Abracas grossulurianta, Linn.) This pretty moth is known also as the Currant aud Gooseberry Moth. Its common name of Magpie Moth is derived from its black and white colours. [t is widely distributed over Britain and is subject to much variation of markings. As a pest it is best known on the currant, oO {G. J. Blakey. iy FIG, 158.—-LARV.B (JUST READY TO PL PATE) AND PUPA OF MAGPIE MOTH. especially the black currant, but red and white are attacked and gooseberries are often defoliated by them. Complaints have also been received of the harm these inseets do to apricot, nuts, and the ornamental ribes. In 1876 Whitehead (1) reeords it as being very harmful in Insects, ete., Injurious to Currants. 207 Kentish and Cambridgeshire plantations, and again in 1881 many Enelish counties and also in [reland. Ormerod (2) records its damage from Orkuey and Sutherlanid- shire, from Areylishire, Fite, Midlothian, Cheshire. Herefordshire, Herts, Wilts and Hants. I have never had any serious complaints of its damaze, except from Surrey and Middlesex. in (4. 0 DP. Rintoud. Fra, LOSA.—IMMATURE CATERPILLARS OF THE MAGPIE MOTIT, In Scotland My. W. A Nicholson intorms me it was very harmful in Midlothian in 1908. Practically we can say it occurs all over the British Isles. Currants have been attacked by it in Somersetshire, Devonshire. Kent, Huntingdonshire and Sussex, but in no case was the damage very serious. Most erowers whom I have asked about it do not consider it of much importance. The case is different in gardens, however, for in such sheltered places as walled-in gardens, especially where the currants are trained 208 Insect Pests. against the walls or fences, it is frequently a serious enemy, and it is under such circumstances that it causes much harm to the apricot. The moth is well known in Germany, where it is called the Harlequin Moth (3). It is also common in France. Tue damage is done by the small caterpillars in the spring, but they are usually undetected until they are nearing maturity, and then, the foliage becoming badly eaten, remedies are adopted. The damage, however, is mainly done to the opening buds and young leaves. Infestation may come from woods and hedgerows. The cater- pillars have a very varied diet otherwise than cultivated fruit, for we frequently find them swarming on hazel, sloe, maple, spindle and other trees. Lire-History anp HAsits. This moth belongs to the same family as the Winter Moth, namely, the Geometridae, the caterpillars being “ Loopers” or “ Measurers.” The moth is about 15 inch in wing expanse, but the size is most variable. The writer has bred specimens only 1+ inch, others over 1? inch across the expanded wings. The colour is creamy-white, spotted with black; the base of the fore wings has orange-yellow between the black spots, and there is a band of yellow on the surface of the wings between the double row of black spots seen in the specimen in the photograph; the hind wings are like the front, but have no yellow ; the thorax and abdomen are also yellow and black. The male can be told from the female by the antennz being pec- tinated. All variations exist ; some specimens show very few black spots, others in which the black spots so completely unite that the moth is almost black. The latter, so-called melanie forms, oceur mainlyinthe damp, humid localities on the west of Scotland, and I have taken melanic varieties in the Channel ane LN, Edenien, Tslands, notably Sark. The dicie: Sea Adee Cr a grossulariata), whole structure of the moth is leht and fragile, almost buttertly-like. They fly very leisurely, generally soon after sunset, but it is not uncommon to find them on the wing even during the Insects, etc., Injurious to Currants. 209 day. This is especially noticeable when walking amouest the vegetation, the movement of the bushes or trees dtusbine Hier. July and August are the months we find the perfect Insects on the wing. They then lay their cream-coloured eces on the leaves, sometimes singly, at others in eroups. This [ have noticed to take place after sunset, but Newman (4) says that they may do so even in the middle of the day, The eves (Fig. 160) hateh in from six to fifteen days into simall, {B. Tonge. PIG, 160,—KkGGS OF THE MAGPIE MOTH (Abraxas grossulariata), (% 10.) wlmostiblack looper caterpillars which feed upon the leaves as lone as there is any nourishment in them, As a rule they reach a little over Linch before the leaves have so hardened that the caterpillars have to stop feeding, They then enter winter quarters, which are very varied: some of the small caterpillars seek shelter amongst the dead leaves that collect in the forks and burrs on the bushes, others crawl nuder stones, wood and debris on the ground. T have found them in the hollow snags of the bushes, and in the case of gardens they especially choose the holes in the mortar of brick and stone walls and under the boards of outhouses, ete. In spring they erawl forth as soon as the leafage expands, and ut once commence to feed upon the young tender substance, Tt is during this period that so much ham is done by this insect. At first the young tender leaves ave merely nibbled; later the p 210 Insect Pests. caterpillars spread out over the bushes and devour the foliage whole- sale. The larvee shown in the accompanying photograph reach when mature about 14 inch. In colour they are creamy-white, spotted and marked with black and with orange-yellow at the sides. About the end of June the larva are ready to pupate. They then fix themselves by a small mass of silk at the tail end to a leaf or twig or to any substance near the bush, and change in a delicate cocoon to a black pupa with three golden-yellow rings to the body. From this con- spicuous pupa the adult appears in July and August. PREVENTION AND TREATMENT. Needless to say all the debris of dead leaves should be “ flared” out of the plantation, in dry weather, where this pest is prevalent. This may easily be done by a paraftin torch. [4. T. D. Rintoul. FIG. 161.—ICHNEUMON COCOONS FROM CATERPILLAR OF MAGPIE MOTH. Ground beneath infested bushes should he well prong-hoed in late winter, and a heavy dressing of soot and lime will often be found beneficial, Some growers have found that smearing cart-grease or Stockhohn tar around the stems in early spring has prevented the larvee that have left the lushes from returning, Whitehead reeords this as having been particularly successful in Gloucester after an attack in 1881. These preventive methods are well worth con- Insects, etc., Injurious to Currants. 211 sidering, but spraying for this insect is perhaps better, Any arsenical wash will poison the caterpillars. Just as in previously mentioned enemies so with this one, arsenate of lead will be found the most successful poison spray. Regarding the time to spray there may be divergence of opinion. Some would leave it until the late spring, when the black and white caterpillars are seen working. We must remember that it is in their early spring life that the chief damage is done. Is it not then better to prevent this by autumnal spraying to poison the caterpillars before they hibernate ? Several trials have been made by the writer with the autumnal treatment and no signs of the caterpillars have been seen in the suc- ceeding year. In gardens where currants are trained against walls, one must remember that the crevices between the bricks are often their winter habitations, and in such cases repointing the walls has been found of great advantage. REFERENCES. (1) Whitehead, Sir C. Report on Insects Injurious to Fruit Crops, p. 53 (1886). (2) Ormerod, HE, A. ‘Handbook of Insects Injurious to Orchard and Bush Fruits,’ p. 89 (1898). (3) Taschenberg, H. L. ‘ Praktische Insekten-kunde,’ III., p. 159 (1880). (4) Newman, E. ‘ British Moths,’ p. 99 (1869). THE CURRANT AND HOP PUG MOTH. (Hupithecia assimilata, Gn.) The caterpillars of this moth now and again do some damage to all three varieties of currants, and also feed on the hop. The moth is a little more than ? inch in wing expanse, the fore wings light blackish-brown, with a grey to almost white line across. It is found on the wing in May and June. The larva is yellowish-green, thickly covered with small yellowish- green raised spots, the divisions of the segments yellow and a dark green line along the back and one below it on each side; the larve show considerable variation. They are mostly noticeable in September and October. Pupation takes place in an earthen cell in the soil. The pupa is yellowish-green. Spraying in autumn with arsenate of lead would suffice to keep this moth in check, if it ever increases sufficiently to need treatment. P 2 212 Insect Pests. A CURRANT FRUIT MOTH. (Spilonota roboranda, TY. ?) When investigating the condition of the orchards and plantations in Worcestershire in 1906, my attention was drawn to a curious attack in black currants by Mr. Denis Best at Temple Laugherne and by Captain Crane at Stourport and others (2). The attacked berries when seen in August were still hanging in a mummified condition on the bushes and all showed, as pointed out to me by those on the spot, the large round hole seen in the photograph (Fig. 162). Collinge also reports this pest in Worcestershire at Mr. Best’s (1), and says it 18 Spilonota roborana, (LF. Edenden. FIG, 162.—A BLACK CURRANT FRUIT MOTH (sp?) AND ATTACKED CURRANT. The larvw apparently feed in the ripening currants, hollow them out, and then leave them as dried masses which hang on after the fruit is gathered. Lupee were found amongst dead leaves on the bushes and from these two moths were bred out, namely Spi/onota roborane and Hemerosia rheediclla ; which is the culprit is not known definitely at present, and I am not sure that it is either, fur the mere finding of pupw spun up around the damaged fruit is not necessarily a sien that they have come from the larvie eating the currants. Until some more observations have been made it is not advisable to deal with this subject further. The Spilonote roborana dyed from pupe taken from Captain Crane’s bushes feeds normally in rose shoots, but oecurs now and then on apple and other plants ; it appears in April and May. These facts do not tally with the damage done to the currauts. The other species bred out, Menerosia rheedicllu, normally teeds on apple and hawthorn. Insects, etc., Injurious to Currants. 213 REFERENCES. (1) Collinge, W. Report on Injurious Insects and Other Animals observed in the Midland Counties during 1906, p. 30 (1907). (2) Theobald, F. V. Report on the Orchards and Fruit Plantations of Wor- cestershire, etc., p. 15 (1906). THE FRUIT AND CURRANT-SHOOT BORER. (Inewvaria capilella, Yab.) This Tineid Moth goes through a very curious series of changes during its growth and development and is of particular interest. It is sometimes harmful to red currants and also attacks the black and white varieties. The damage is caused by the larva tunnelling up the young shoots, causing them first to flag and then die right back. The appearance of the withered tips is very marked and will at once show the presence of this insect in our plantations. It has been but seldom reported to me. In 1899 and again in 1902 some inquiries were received from mid Kent and in 1904 one from Worcestershire. It has also been observed at work near Esher in Surrey, and near Cambridge and at Wye. Ormerod (1) records it from Gloucestershire, in the Toddington Fruit Grounds at Winch- combe. Warburton (4) records it from Worcestershire. Lire-Histrory, Hapirs, Erc. The moth is a pretty insect about 4 inch in spread of wings. The fore wings are dark brown and have when fresh a satiny lustre, showing in the sunlight a purplish tinge ; towards the base of each is a yellow band running across the wings and nearer the tip are two yellow spots; the hind wings are uniformly grey with faint purplish lustre. The head is deep yellow and shows up prominently with the yellow markings on the wings. The moth delights in the sun and may be found settled on the blossoms ot’ plants, especially I have noticed on Umbelliferee. It is fairly common over the south and middle of England, but does not appear to be found in the north or in Scotland. It is also recorded from north Ireland ; Stainton records it from Alkham near Dover, Bristol, Cambridge, Kingsbury, Middlesex, Manchester, Pembury, Scarborough, Tenterden. The time of appearance is about the middle to the end of May, 214 Insect Pests. now and then into June. The female places her ova in the young currants, where the small caterpillars pass the first stages of their life. These early stages were followed by Chapman (2), who records the egg-laying process as follows: ‘“ The moth sits upon the currant and penetrates it in the lateral region, on one occasion the process occupied three or four minutes, on another, only about thirty seconds, The dates were from the 17th to 20th of May. On examining one of these currants, which was rather more than half grown and with seeds still very soft, two eges of erpifella were found lying free in FIG. 163.—THE RASPBERRY SHOOT MOTH (Jneurcaria eapitella). Larva, adult and larva in shoot. the ovarian cavity; in another, the cavity contained two such pairs of eves. The ova are colourless and lemon-shaped, about 0°67 mm. lone. =) The small caterpillars which hatch from these eggs feed upon the seeds. The fruitlets become prematurely coloured and in June and July the small caterpillars leave the fruit and spin up small white cocoons on the bark, under the rind or on the bud seales. At this time the little larve are only about 7 inch long, of an orange-red colour, with rufous head. In this stage the winter is passed, and in the spring the little larvee crawl forth and bore into the buds and shoots. They tunnel up the shoots after destroying various buds and cause them to flag cS and die, At first the larvie are bright red, but before beeomine Ss mature they become greenish to ereenish-white. Stainton (3) (Horace Knight. Insects, etc., Injurious to Currants. 215 describes the larva as dull greenish, with a red patch on ninth segment ; head and second seement black. In April and May they change to brown pupie in somewhat loose cocoons In the tunnelled shoots, the pup forcing their way partly out before the emergence of the moths. Warburton (5) noticed that the larvie which “were not stopped by the muslin (bag) took refuge under the little flakes of curled bark op the currant stems and pupated there.” In that position fresh pupe and empty skins of those of last year were found. PREVENTION. The only definite plan known to check this pest is to hand-pick the flagging shoots in April before the emergence of the moths. Spraying with caustic alkali wash in winter would be sure to do good, as it would remove old bud scales, ete., and so expose the winter cocoons and might even damage the small larvw. REFERENCES. (1) Chapman, Dr. Entomologist Monthly Magazine, pp. 297-800 (1892). (2) Ormerod, E. A. ‘Handbook of Insects Injurious to Orehard and Bush Fruits,’ p. 71 (1898). (3) Stainton, H. T. ‘Tineina,’ p. £2, and ‘Manual British Butterflies and Moths,’ vol. IT., p. 297 (1859). (4) Kaltenbuch, J. H. + PHlanzenfeinde,’ pp. 260 and 629 (1874). (5) Warburton, C. Journal Royal Agri. Soc., vol. LNVIL., p. 268 (1906). THE GLAUCOUS LEAF WEEVIL. (Phyllobius calearatus. Fabr.) This leaf weevil is recorded by Warburton (1) as doing serious damage to black currant bushes at Bewdley. It usually oceurs on alders and various low bushes in hedges. The weevil is locally common and is said by Fowler (2) to be generally distributed throughout England; common in Scotland (Solway, Tay, Dee, ete.); Iveland, near Dublin, and most likely widely distributed. It is a large and conspicuous species often nearly inch long, but sometimes lire Tonight only a little more than }. Colour black, PIG, 164,—Phyllobius ealearatus. 216 Insect Pests. clothed with long and narrow, yellowish-green or golden scales ; the wing cases long, much broader at the base than the thorax, with fine punctured striw; antennw red, fuscous at the apex; legs red, with dark tarsi and femora, The best treatment would be jarring the beetles off on to tarred boards, REFERENCES. (1) Warburton, C. Annual Report for 1894 of the Zoologist Journ, Roy. Agri. Soe. of England, vol. V., 8rd se., pt. 4 (1894). 2) Fowler, Canon, ‘The Coleoptera of the British Isles. vol. V.. p. 204 (1891). { 4 CURRANT APHIDES. (Rhopalosiphum rvibis, Linn., and Afyzus ribis, Linn.) All three varieties of currants are often attacked by Aphides or Plant Lice. At least two species are culprits. During 1901 currant bushes were considerably damaged by them. In some districts the bushes were quite ruined, the leaves turned brown and shrivelled up, and the fruit fell off, the bunches “ shank- ” ing” in consequence of the abnormal presence of these pests. The rapid increase of the “ Plant Lice” was due to a long spell of dry, warm weather, so favourable to the development of these insects, so detrimental to the develop- ment of the fruit and health of the bushes. Aphides are (4. TV. D. Rintoul. usually more or less preva- FIG. 165.—CURRANT LEAF WITH BLISTERS SHELTERING a y “pe Q ‘ are Re ee lent on currants, and are always lable under certain climatic conditions, such as existed duvine June 1901, to increase to an injurious extent. The two currant species mentioned work in a slightly different way. One, Zi. ribis, was at one time thought to produce reddish, reddish-brown, or yellow blister-like galls on the surface of the leaves, whilst Myzus ribixs often causes the leaves to curl up, especially on the top shoots, Both species are equally difficult to destroy after Tnsects, etc., Injurious to Currants. 217 they commence to breed in numbers, owing to their being hidden, and more or less protected in the hollows of the blisters and under the eurled-up leaves. The galled patches are chielly noticed on the upper surface of the leaf, where they are blister-like; below thev [F. Bdenden. Fra. 163,—RED CURRANT SHOOT WITH DENSE CLUSTER OF CURLED LEAVES DUE TO APHIS ATTACK, are concave, In this eavity the aphides live and breed, the area of the diseased patch increases as they develop. The leaves so attacked shrivel away, the fruit often falls owing to loss of sap long before the leaves die, These red blister-like patches are not caused by the aphides. I have frequently during the last few years 218 Insect Pests. found them forming, before any of the aphis had hatched from the eges, Whether they are fungoid in origin I do not know, but in any case they are not caused, as thought, by the plant lice, which merely shelter beneath them. Neither of these aphides is said to form much “honeydew,” hence the diseased appearance of the leaf is often not noticed as being of insect origin during the early stages of the attack, unless an examination has been made of the under smface. Later on “honeydew” becomes abundant, being especially formed by the leaf- curling species; on black cur- rants the “honeydew” often gives a shiny and sticky appear- ance to the whole bush. The insects spread chiefly by means of winged genera- tions, which appear every now and then, flying from bush to bush, and there setting up fresh areas of disease. These winged generations may occur as early as the middle of May, but usually not until June. All varieties seem to be attacked. Lire-History aNnp Habits. Although the appearance [A I. D. Rintoul, and habits of the two euwrrant FIG. 167,—AN Pe Ge YOUNG WITHIN. aphides are difterent, yet their : life-histories are very similar. (L.) Rhopalosiphiim vibis, L.—The wingless viviparous female, or “imother-queen,” is shiny green, mottled with darker green; legs, honey-tubes, and antenna pale green; eyes, red. In form it is oval and convex, and slightly larger than the following species (IT.); the body being ;!5 inch long. The wineless females are found on the under surface of the leaves and sheltered under the red, orange, and yellow blisters. They appear first of all in April, and oceur continuously until July and even August. Every new and then the lee to which they give rise turn into so-called pup, which are characterised by rudiments of wings appearing as wine buds. The pupa is green, and does not, apart from the wing cases, Insects, etc., Injurious to Currants. 219 differ much from the wingless female or larva. The winged vivi- parous female, which arises from the pupa, is yellowish-green with black head and antennw; the thorax is black with a yellow band in front; the abdomen is a bright yellowish-ereen, with dark spots and patches on the back and sides; yellow honey-tubes, swollen towards the apex; legs ochreous, with the joints and the feet black. These winged females fly from bush to bush. In the autumn or late summer males and exe-laying females are formed; the ege- laying female, after being fertilised, deposits a few brown elongated evys on the last year’s growth of a twig just under the broken rind or upon it. Here the eges remain all the winter. This aphis, besides feed- ing on the red, black, and whitecwrrant, alsoattacks the gooseberry, and it has been found in the Guelder Rose, the Nipple Wort, and the Sow Thistle. Walker many years ago suecested that this species flew to the lettuce as its second host plant, and from what I have ob- served I am inclined to think this is correct, for I can detect no difference [A VD. Rintoul, in the aphides found on FIG, 168.—CAST SKIN OL EXUVIUM OF AN APHIS. lettuce in the late sum- (Greatly enlarged.) mer, and certainly this species leaves the currants in great numbers in late summer. (IL) Myzus vibis, Linn.—This plant louse can easily be dis- tinguished from the former, with a lens, by its olive, not black, head, and its black honey-tubes and irregularly black ornamented abdomen in the winged female. It occurs from April to August, especially in the black currant and gooseberry, but also on the red currant; it is said to cause blisters similar to (1.). It often causes the leaves at the apex of the shoots to eurl and twist up. Ihave never been able to find any blisters formed by it. The wineless female, which appears in the spring, is shiny yellowish-ereen, with dark ereen mottlings, elongated oval in form, and with curious hairs in front; the honey-tubes and legs are 220 Insect Pests. pale ereen, and the eyes bright red. The larve are pale green. When the leaves lose their sap the larvie turn to pupze, and then to winged females. The pupa of this species is shiny yellowish-green, with two brown spots on the back of the head. The winged vivi- parous female is bright green, with pale olive head, brown thorax with an olive band across it, irregular transverse bands and spots on the abdomen, and four or five dark lateral spots; the deep olive- green to black honey-tubes are cylindrical in form, and the deep ereen legs have olive feet. Towards July many leave the currants, FIG, 169,—A KNAPSACK SPRAYER (‘FOUR OAKS PATENT”) USEFUL IN SPRAYING BUSH FRUIT, ETC, but some always seem to remain, and give vise to ego-laying females and males, the former depositing their long brown eggs under the exfoliated rind, attaching them to it by a gummy excretion; the eges hatch in the spring, when they give rise to larvee, which soon grow into the “mother-queens.” The wineless female is smaller than in the former species, being little more than qs inch long. It also occurs on the gooseberry, and it curls up the leaves and deforms the shoots often to a serious extent. NAturaAL ENEmIgEs, The larve and adults of the Two-spotted Ladybird are often to be found feeding amongst the colonies of lice, and do inesti- mable good in keeping them in check. Larve of several species of Hover Flies also feed on them, their leech-like ereen or dull red Insects, etc., Injurious to Currants. 221 larvee living amongst the lice in the blisters or curled leaves. But in spite of these, great harm results, for they never occur till the damage is mostly done. PREVENTION AND TREATMENT. Black currants should be cut very hard in the autumn after an attack, and the strippings carried away and burnt. By so doing many eggs will be destroyed. When aphides are present on the bushes it is most important to spray carly in the ycar, directly the lice are seen, before the leaves become curled up; the lice can then be far more readily reached by the spray than later in the year. The most successful wash for these plant lice is dilute paraffin emulsion. This is when a bad attack has taken place, but only slight benefit results when the leaves are once curled. Plain soft soap and quassia is enongh if the bushes are washed early. The wash has to be put on so as to reach the undersides of the leaves. REFERENCES. (1) Whitehead, Sir C. Insects Injurious to Fruit Crops. Agricultural Department, Privy Council Office, p. 63 (1886). (2) Buckton, G. B. ‘Monograph of the British Aphides,’ I., p. 180 (1875), IL, p. 9 (1877). (8) Theobald, F. V. Journal Board of Agriculture, Dec. 1901, pp. 306-312 (1901). THE CURRANT ROOT LOUSE. (Schizoneura ulmi. Linn, = Schizonewra fodiens, Buckton.) Three cases of damage caused by this aphis have been recorded (1, 2 and 6). It is an insect, however, which we must keep under observation, as in one instance the writer found it doing much harm to currants in Kent at Swanley (1). Carpenter (2) has found it in Ireland, and Warburton (6) records it without locality. The aphis attacks the roots of black and red currants, where it forms an unhealthy galled appearance. The bluish-grey to white wool, although not abundant as it is in the Woolly Apple Aphis, is sufficient to identify it. Wainged forms appear in autumn and pass out of the ground to fresh plants. Peery i LF. BE. FIG, 170. —CURRANT ROOT LOUSE ON BLACK CURRANT. (Note damage at @ and white patches.) Insect Pests. The pests appear to swarm at times and leave the soil in numbers. Small galled and split growths may be seen where the aphides have taken up their abode near the stem, and in young stock the plants die under the attack. Should any pale wool and powder be seen on young currant stocks it is well to have them cleaned before planting, by either washing them in warm soft soap and water, tobacco wash, or fumigating them with hydrocyanie acid gas. Injec- tions of bisulphide of carbon also do good. This aphis was sent me from Paddock Wood in 1894, where it was found living in the eround and was taken to be the subterranean form of the Woolly Aphis (3). It is to be found attached to the roots and also in earth chambers lined with cottony fibres. Buckton (5) deseribed it as a new species from Haslemere. This insect has now been shown to be the migrant form of Schizonenre ulini (7), which causes the curled leaves on the elm in spring and summer, and when these get tough it descends to the roots of eurrauts and gooseberries. TREFERENCES. (1) Theobald, F. V. Bulletin No. 60. Dept. Agriculture, U.S.A. (1906). (2) Carpenter, G. H. Injurious Insects and Other Animals observed in Iveland during the year 1905. Eco. Proc. Royal Dublin Society, p. 337 vol. I., pt. 8 (1906). (8) Theobald, F. V. Notes upon Insect Pests in 1894, p. 4 (1895), (4) Theobald, F. Ve Report on Economic Zoology for year ending April 1, 1906, p. 46 (1906). (5) Buekton, GH. ‘Monograph of British Aphides,’ vol. ITL., p. 94 (1880). (6) Warburton, C. Journal Royal Agri. Soc., vol. LAVI., p. 184 (1905), (7) Barsacq, J. Le Jardin, vol. NXT, No, 498, p. 848, Nov. 20 (1907). Insects, etc., Injurious to Currants. 223 THE WHITE WOOLLY CURRANT SCALE. (Pulvinaria vitis var. ribesie. Signoret.) This species during the greater part of its existence is one of the most marked of the Coccide we find in Great Britain, and cannot well be confounded with any other outdoor species. But during its young scale stages it may be mistaken for the Brown Currant Scale (Lecanium persiee var, sarothamnt). The White Woolly Scale can readily be told during the summer by the presence of a large quantity of white wool, which first appears as a cushion beneath the insect, and which gradually pushes it away from the bark. The white cushions spread out and the fibres become loose and get blown about by every breath of air, threads of extreme fineness being spread from twig to twig and bough to bough like spiders’ webbing. Bushes when badly attacked look just as if spiders had spun their webs over them and the bushes had been dusted with lime or white-wash. Figure 171, reproduced from a photograph, shows the appearance of an infested branch. The specimen came from some bushes in Huntingdonshire which were completely covered, as shown in the figure. It is a species readily distributed by the wind and by birds. The dead dried insect is dull ereyish-brown, of a roundish oval form, about } to } inch long, and like the Brown Currant Scale, with a distinct notch at the posterior end of the body. The edges become curled up and the surface is very convex, and some trace of a keel is seen running down the back, and transverse lines running down from it to the sides. The adult female at the period of parturition is dusky yellow, almost covered with dark brown reticulations which may form indefinite transverse lines; after parturition, dark brown or chocolate- brown to black. At the period of fecundation the female becomes slightly elongate and widened posteriorly ; colour dusky yellow, with a median bright line and distinct dark brown reticulations. In the winter the insect fits close to the bark, but by degrees a thick, rather close cushion of wool appears, and gradually lifts one end of the insect up; as this grows it becomes irregular and loose threads get blown from twig to twig and hang about in the air. In this mass of wool the female lays her eggs. The eggs are small, pale, dust-like bodies, which I have found as early as July (1). Newstead finds that the larvee hatch early in June. Some ova I kept for a week; they then gave rise to little, orange, six-legged larvae which moved about actively on the wool and over the twigs; the deep cleft in the caudal 224 Insect Pests. extremity is very noticeable, so also are the two caudal bristles: in form, the larvee are roughly oval. The eyes are dark, and the : autennw have distinct long hairs of specific im- portance. On the antennw five bristles oceur, of which that on the third joint and that on the last are the longest. After five days the surface of the larvie became keeled and more or less striated, and more convex in form, They showed a distinct aversion to light, both natural and artificial, At the end of ten days the larvie re- mained stationary and the skin commenced to harden. Previous to this some of them were more or less covered with little grey woolly granules. The white nest sub- stance is said by Newstead to pe secreted behind and beneath the female’s body. By May the females are nature, but the nest is not formed at once, and according to my ohserva- tions the females do not commence ege-laying until June and continue until July, the larvie hatching out over a period FIG, 171.—THE WHITE WOOLLY CURRANT SCALT (Pulvinaria vitis var. ribesiw). OSI CES eight weeks. When the full complement of eges is laid the female dies, and her shrivelled body remains behind at one end of the cushion, now loose and irregular, [ lave never seen a male scale of this species. Newstead (2) states that it is like the typical male of Lecaniiin, Insects, etc., Injurious to Currants. 225 I have observed this species on the black, red, and white currant. Miss Ormerod (3) records it from the black currant and also from Aibes sanguincum, an ornamental species. Newstead (2) also records it from all three varieties and says it occurs most freely on &. nigrum, to which it is often injurious. He records it from Banffshire, Aberdeenshire, Kincardine, Edinburgh City ; Arbroath and Berwick-on-Tweed ; from Bangor, North Wales ; very common in Cheshire and near Liverpool. Mr. Denis Best tells me he has had it in his plantations near Worcester (4). Mr. Moseley records it from Huddersfield. In the neighbourhood of Paris and in other parts of France, it is not at all an unusual pest on the red currant, and has long been known to be destructive. The only observations I have made of it in England were on wall bushes in the open, and in all cases the bushes were not in good sunny positions, but were more or less sheltered. It is strange how suddenly this pest may appear, as seen in the garden in Huntingdonshire. There is no doubt that it is easily wind-borne and equally easily spread by birds, hence its sudden appear- ance in isolated areas some distance apart. Some of the most interesting notes on it are given by Newstead (2). He records how the young hatch in June and until the first week in July, a period of about twenty-eight days. They are very active for a day or so and then disperse over the plants, ascending to the leaves and young and tender shoots, but rarely fix themselves in such situations. They almost invariably select the hard ripened wood of the previous year’s growth. Very little change takes place in the larvee at first, but by mid July they undergo their first moult. At the end of August another moult takes place. After this the first traces of reticulation show and the distinction of sexes takes place. The males become more elongate and more reticulate than the female. As soon as the elongate form is reached the male enters the puparium stage. By the end of August the male propupal stage is reached, and about seven days later the white caudal filaments of the male are seen to protrude from under the puparium. The males come from under the puparia in mid September and go on appearing until the second week in October. The winged males take a short rapid flight, more like a leap. About the end of September the females effect their third moult. By the third week in October they are nearly mature and closely resemble in colour the bark of the food plant. The insect passes the winter in this stage, and early in March shows signs of growth and secretes honeydew. Towards the end of April the females thicken and the margin of the Q 226 Insect Pests. body formerly fixed to the branch becomes raised up by the white cushion, and in this pad the eggs are deposited, and the larve hatch in June and July. The great amount of honeydew secreted is very marked. The treatment is the same as that given in connection with the Brown Currant Scale, p. 230. REFERENCES. (1) Theobald, F. V. Journal 8. E. Agricultural College, No. 11, pp. 21-23 (1902). (2) Newstead, R. ‘Monograph of the British Coccide,’ vol. II., pp. 55-67. (1908). (83) Ormerod, E. A. ‘Handbook of Insects Injurious to Orchard and Bush Fruits,’ p. 75 (1898). (4) Theobald, F. V. Report on the Orchards and Fruit Plantations of Worcestershire, p. 14 (1906). THE BROWN CURRANT SCALE. (Lecanium persice var. sarothamni. Douglas.) (Lecanium ribis, Fitch.) The Brown Currant Scale is much more abundant in Great Britain than the former species, and increases with greater rapidity. Moreover, it attacks a larger number of plants. It has been recorded on the raspberry, cotoneaster, Clematis, Crataegus oxyacanthus and C. pyracanthus, Cytisus scoparius, Philadelphus, Wistaria chinensis, Neillia (1), on conifers, on euonymus, and on plum (6), but especially on the currant and gocseberry. It has also been found on elms in Denmark (5). The Brown Currant Scale also occurs in North America, for Fitch describes it under the name Lecanium ribis. It is very injurious to the young wood upon which it is often found, sucking out the juices and stunting the growth of the wood. Bushes, etc., affected seldom bear much fruit, and the leaves usually ripen off long before those of healthy bushes. The female is yellowish-brown to rich brown in colour, hemispherical in form, about } inchin length; slight transverse markings may be seen at the edge, which when old becomes covered with corrugations, and the edges much contorted. The male is not known in Britain. The larve of this scale differ considerably from those of P. ribesiw. Their colour is yellowish to pale reddish. They emit very long delicate glass-like filaments from both ends. The larvie wander about freely over the bushes for some time, finally settling upon the young wood, when they soon become flat and Insects, etc., Injurious to Currants. 227 rather sticky, oval in form, pale chestnut to ochreous-brown around the edve, darker in the middle. In six weeks they may assume the mature state, and then the female commences to lay her eggs, the small dust-like eggs beine mixed amonest a small quantity of eon eggs or creamy threads. During the winter I have found the egus under (4. VD. Rintoul, FIG, 172.—THE BROWN SCALE ON CURRANT (Leedutinin y. sarothamaut), (Slightly enlarged.) the mature scales, but the majority pass the winter in the immature condition ag larvee. Three broods of this insect have been known to occwr during the year, rarely two (5). I have found the larve actively wandering on gooseberry bushes in the middle of November. I have also notes of their occurrence in the same garden in February, April, and again in June and July. Newstead says they are single brooided. The larvie under observation found in February became mature females by the 2nd of May, and were depositing ees. These eggs Q 2 v 228 Insect Pests. hatched out in the first week in June, and gave rise to mature females in Aueust, which deposited eggs that hatched out in September. The najority of these were fully developed females by the 20th of October, and from the ees laid by these there sprung larvie, which I also found on the bushes in November. It thus seems that in Kent, and probably elsewhere, there may be as many as three broods of this Coceid, but usually there is only one brood. The insect passes the winter in the full grown larval stage, scarcely visible to the naked eye and rarely in the egg stage (5) These larvie have a distinct reddish hue in the spring. Unlike the previous species, the larvee ave not affected by light. Those observed seemed very fond of wandering about amongst the ereen aleve on the bushes, with which many were covered. The male is quite unknown, the species presumably breeding entirely asexually, The gooseberry is attacked just as much as the currant, and especi- ally bushes beneath standard fruit trees. This scale has been recorded from most parts of England, and I have observed it in north Wales. sinuses mertaetauam anus Newstead (1) is of opinion that KILLED BY PARAFFIN EMULSION. it is merely a variety of Lecaniuin persiee (Geoftroy ). Curtis (4) refers to this insect as Leeaninim hesperiduim, merely more elongated forms due, according to Newstead, to the exigency of the insects on the twigs. One noticeable feature in this insect is that very distinct white scars remain for a considerable time on the bushes the dead insects ave removed from (Fig. 162), Natura, ENEMIES. Numerous natural enemies prey upon these Currant Coccidie ; of these by far the most important are Ladybird Beetles (Coceinelide), but, unfortunately, in Britain we have few, if any, that help us in this respect. The importation of foreign Ladybirds has been undertaken (5 and 6) with the hope of acclimatising some scale-feeding species in this country. Results with the Vedulia cardinalis and the Orange Seale Leerya purchasi) in America have been so successful that we Insects, etc., Injurious to Currants. 229 had some hope that similar good results might accrue here. So far this has been a failure. ' Etta } » cM vi / 7 OTe Pos a a Os , A few minute Chaleidide also feed on these scales, but unfortn- nately they seem tu make little difference in their numbers. : Newstead (1) says the second generation of the White Woolly Seale becomes infested with these minute hymenoptera, which [FV Pheobald. FIG. 174.—A FUMIGATING BOX FOR BUSH FRUIT. increased in the third generation under observation to such an extent that 50 per cent. of the Coecids were destroyed. This parasite is known as Blastothria sericea (Dalman), Many scales are destroyed by the Tits (Parid), especially by the Blue Tit (Parus cwruleus); but as they also help to spread several of these enemies [ am afraid that much of the good they do is counter- balanced. Newstead also mentions the Cole Tit (7. afer), the Marsh Tit (P. palustris), and the Great Tit (2. mjor) as feeding upon them. 230 Insect Pests. I have seen the Long-tailed Tit and also the Golden Crested Wren eating them. Natural enemies in this country are of very little use, and in the case of the Currant Scales seem to do little or no good. TREATMENT OF CURRANT SCALES. A hundred and one remedies have been advocated for scale insects, some more or less successful if properly applied. Of patent com- pounds one need say little, they are too expensive for outdoor use, and often not of much value except on the larvae. But for private greenhouse use no doubt some may be of value, and when used in small quantities will save trouble where money is no object. Three remedies only are of any real service in Scale attack on fruit trees out of doors, namely, (1) caustic alkali wash, (2) Woburn wash, and (3) paraffin emulsions. Fumigation with hydrocyanic acid gas is most successful, but is troublesome to apply out of doors, never- theless, it might be advisable for Currant and Gooseberry Scales when the attack is very severe (vide Fig. 174). Of the three washes the former is quite successful, clearing the trees and bushes entirely of these two Coccid pests: This wash, which has to be applied in the winter, removes all foreign bodies from the plant. For such scales as the one just mentioned and the White Woolly Currant Scale, no better treatment can be recommended. This wash should be well sprayed over the bushes ca in January in currant and gooseberry plantations. Mr. John Riley of Putley Court found this most effective for the Brown Gooseberry Stale, Parattin emulsion should contain up to 6 gallons of the best paraffin per 100 gallons of wash to have much effect. The paraffin jelly recommended for Red Spider on gooseberry may also be used for these insects; so far the best results have been obtained with it and caustic alkali wash. REFERENCES. (1) Newstead, R. ‘Monograph of the British Coccide,’ vol. II., pp. 94-96 (1903). (Lecaniuwm persica var. coryli). (2) Theobald, F. V. Journal 8. E. Agricultural College, No. 11, p. 23 (1902). (Lecanium coryli). (8) Ormerod, EH. A, ‘Handbook of Insects Injurious to Orchard and Bush Fruit,’ p. 109 (1898). (Lecanium ribis. Fitch). (4) Curtis, J. Gardeners’ Chronicle, p. 516, figs. 1-6 (1843). (Lecanium hesperidum). (5) Theobald, F. V. Report on Economic Zoology for the year ending April Ist, 1907, p. 50 (1907). (6) Theobald, F. V. Report on Economic Zoology for year ending April Ist, 1906, p. 47 (1906). Insects, ctc., Injurious to Currants. 231 THE CURRANT GALL MITE. (Briophyes ribis. Nalepa.) The disease caused by this mite is popularly called “ Big Bud.” During recent years the mite has become one of the worst pests with which the frait-grower has to reckon, the damage done is enormous, and no means of extermination has yet been found. The difficulty experienced in eettine rid of the disease is due entirely to the position of the mites inside the buds. Although, thanks to the work of Newstead (1), Lewis (2), and Warbur- ton (5), we know a great deal about the life-history, yet there are still many points upon which we have not yet sufficient knowledze. The minute mite that causes the disease belongs to a family of acari now known as the Hriophyida, formerly as Phytoplida, Other mites which be- lone to this family are pro- tected by the bud in a similar way: the Nut Bud Mite (£. arellana, Amerl.), the Birch Mite, 2. rudis (sub. sp. fypieus) (Can.) and the Yew Mite (2. lari, fa. D, Rintoutl. Dey) clbetelcan: ae the buds to swell in the same way as does Z. ibis on the black currant. Galls are formed by many of these mites on the leaves of various plants and trees, such, for instance, as the several kinds of small red galls frequently found in numbers on the leaves of the maple and sycamore, and the common “nail galls ” of the lime. They are usually situated on the upper surfaces of the leaves, the aperture being below, and they may be covered inside with a whitish downy substance. Mites belonging to this family attack other fruit 232 Insect Pests. “ trees, such as the plum and the pear; the Pear Leaf Blister Mite (£. pyri, Scheuten) being very common here, in America, and at the Cape. The gall mite of the currant, like all the rest of the family, is very small. The disease caused by it has been known in England and Scotland for a long time past, and appears to have been noticed in the neigh- bourhood of Maidstone quite seventy years ago. At that time it was not known what caused the buds to swell, nor was it apparently considered of much importance. It did a good deal of damage in 1849-1850 in Scotland and probably earlier, but the first authentic record appeared in 1869 (4), when the infestation was prevalent in Yorkshire, and Professor Westwood referred to the cause of the disease as ‘‘a peculiar species of acarus ” (4). It is only in the last twenty years the attack has caused serious losses, but it has now spread to such an extent that few plantations are free from infestation in this country and no variety that has been grown any length of time appears to be immune. The infested buds, which contain thousands of mites, swell to an abnormal size, and though they may eventually open, never do much good and seldom give any fruit of value. None of the supposed remedies are of any value. In one plantation a certain treatment will lessen infestation, while another grower will find that it is a complete failure. DESCRIPTION OF THE DISEASE. The appearance of the buds when infested with the Currant Mite can be seen in Fig. 175. The abnormal growth is due to the mites biting the tissues of the buds. A bush badly diseased will be covered with swollen buds, but when first attacked it is noticeable that sometimes the terminal buds are chiefly infested, and sometimes the basal buds only show signs of disease. In other cases both the terminal and basal buds are free from infestation. The difference between normal and infested buds is usually well marked ; the former, as a rule, are conical and look clean and healthy ; while the latter, presenting a somewhat mealy and bloated appearance, are more or less globular in shape (Fig. 175). The buds attacked do not always burst open, but they turn brown during the summer. These dead dried buds will remain on the bushes along time. On opening a diseased bud it will be found that the parts within are distorted and pale in colour, owing to the extraction of the juices by the mites, whose presence will only be Insects, elc., Injurious to Currants. 233 detected by the appearance of a faint white powder. The fact that a FIG. 176,—SKECTION OF BIG UW. TL. Heanmonid. COUNTLESS MITES AS A bud is not swollen must not be taken to mean that it is mite frec. A few mites may often be found in a normal bud, having just migrated there. Then, as_ they increase, the bud com- mences to swell. Each diseased bud contains thousands of mites, which are very prolific. Eves and young are all found mixed up with the adults. DESCRIPTION OF THE MITE. The mite (Fig. 178) is semi-transparent and shiny, narrowly elongate and cylindrical in shape, in length nearly +4 inch. (WH. Hamanond, 1.177.—SECTION OF BIG BUD, SHOWING DENSE MASS OF MITEs. (Greatly enlarged.) The body, which is white or pale yellowish-green in colour, is marked 234 Insect Pests. with a series of from 60 to 70 transverse rings, furnished with regular rows of circular projecting processes, only at the sides of the body can these be recognised as projections. There are four legs placed at the anterior end of the body, two on each side of the head. A small bristle «ppears on the underside of the second segment; a very long bristle extends from the upper side of the third segment, a shorter one from the upper side of the fourth, while two bristles arise from the terminal segment, a short one from the inner side and a long one from the outer side near the base ; this terminal segment, on the upper side near the end, is furnished with a strong, blunt claw, and at the extremity with a shorter process, with five bristles extending from each side of it. There are five pairs of bristles on the body, the first of which are placed on the under surface midway between the base of the legs and the second pair of bristles; these latter are much longer and situated slightly anterior to the middle of the body. The next pair are very short and are placed on the ventral side of the body; another comparatively short but slightly longer pair are placed near the posterior extremity, on the ventral side ; and the fifth pair, which are the longest of all, arise from just behind the anal extremity. The head Ie Bdenden, ~— ends in a blunt, snout-like projection FIG. 178, . ¥ ‘. PCAC S Ua EAA ROMER including the mouth parts, which (Greatly enlarged.) consist of a pair of maxille and a pair of mandibles, the mouth being adapted for biting and sucking. The cephalo-thorax is protected above by a triangular shield marked with longitudinal furrows. That portion of the body below the caudal pair of bristles acts as a sucker, and is used by the mites as a means of attachment to the food plant while they wave their bodies and legs in the air (a performance which they go through when any diseased bud is opened, one mite being capable of thus holding up several of its compauions). Insects, etc., Injurious to Currants. 235 The adult stage is reached after a series of moults, but the exact number of these has not been ascertained. The different stages vary to some extent in shape, some being slightly longer and narrower than others, while many are very short and stout, presenting a swollen appearance towards the head. They seem capable of contraction and expansion, and this partly accounts for the difference in form. The eggs (Fig. 178) are very large when compared with the size of the mite; they are pale greenish in colour and glassy in appearance, furnished with a strong chitinous covering which becomes irregular in shape (according to Lewis) just previous to the hatching of the mites. Lire-HIstory AND Hapsits. Writing in the 8. E. Agricultural College Journal, Mr. Lewis said: “The life-history of the mite does not up to the present seem to have been quite satisfactorily determined. The question as to what happens to the mite when the buds burst in the spring and summer has not been satisfactorily answered in a manner to account for the continuance of infestation in certain cases, where drastic measures have been resorted to with a view to ex- termination. The fact that the whole of the diseased bush above ground can be cut down and destroyed, and the root stock also subjected to treatment without result (all the bushes in a diseased plantation being treated alike), seems to show that the mites, or their eggs, or both, must be able to retain their vitality for a considerable period in the soil. I have, however, never yet found any mites living for any length of time in the soil taken from around infested bushes, after subjecting samples to careful micro- scopical examination. The minute size of the mite makes it a very easy matter to pass it over, even after exhaustive search, and this applies as much or more to the eggs also, but if living mites continued to be present in any numbers, some at least ought to have been found in the numerous samples of soil taken. The margin for error is, however, too great in such a case for a reliable and definite result to be obtained.” Repeated examinations have definitely proved that eggs may be present in the buds all the year round, but more numerous at some seasons than others, and regulated in numbers to a large extent by temperature. There are fewer in December and January (especially in the latter month), according to Lewis and my own observations, than at any other time during the year. The fact of the presence of the eggs in the buds throughout the year is a very important one, and has been questioned 236 Insect Pests. in some quarters; but during the winter of 1897 (G) Lewis examined infested buds at very frequent, inter vals, also in 1899, and always found a certain number of eggs. The mites may be found outside the buds from early March onwards for some months, but the main number are to be seen in April. They may then be seen moving over the burst buds, at their base, and you may find them on the blossom strigs and in the blossoms. Mr. C. Warburton, in a paper read before the Linnean Society, mentioned that the mites hold on by their anal sucker and wave their legs in the air; he further noticed a point of some importance, hitherto undetected, namely, that the mites possess the power of leaping off the plant into the air, and he assumes that they do this FIG. 179.—THE CURRANT BUD MITE (Eriophyes ribis) AND OVA. (From Lewis.) in order to attach themselves to passing Insects, and in that way get distributed, to a certain extent, from one plantation to another. In the beginning of June, the mites have been seen congregated round the young buds, between the main stem and the basal portion of the leaf petioles. By the end of the month many infested buds which have not burst dry up, and the mites apparently die in them. Throughout July many old buds which have not dried contain both mites and eggs, and the latter are always plentiful from the beginning of March. It is not until towards the end of July that the presence of the mites in the newly-formed buds may be noticed, On the 10th of August buds not more than yi; inch in length were found by Lewis to contain mites, and many of these buds contained eggs by the middle of the month. In the Insects, etc., Injurious to Currants. 237 middle of September many buds are swollen, especially in the vicinity of the dried-up buds which have burst, and many mites and eggs are present in each. Teneath the bud scales Lewis found, in several cases, about half a dozen mites entirely red in colour, which was probably due to their food, as the scales on which the mites were situated were reddish in tint. On the 24th of September he found a few buds with scales reddish in colour contained red mites, but these were always near the outside of the bud; in one case he found two red mites near the centre of a bud. The most important points seem to be that from the middle of April, or earlier, to the end of May, or later, according to season and situation of the bushes, as a succession of swollen buds burst, mites are to be found crawling outside the buds, on the stems, flowers, and petioles of the leaves, or congregated between the base of the leaf petiole and the main stem; that they are afterwards found in the new buds as soon as they begin to crow; and that, as far as can be at present ascertained, they do not appear to be able to live for any length of time in the soil. I have also found them sheltering under the rind of the “snags” of cut back bushes. At present we are quite unable to say what happens to many of them which escape from the swollen buds before the young buds are formed, and also how it is that when a bush is cut right back they start on the young shoots. The probability is that many can and do live for a time under the rind and in the ground, and then come out and invade the young buds. VARIETIES CHIEFLY ATTACKED. Most varieties are attacked, some worse, however, than others ; the Baldwin suffers most, then Black Naples and Black Dutch and Lee’s Prolific. Carter’s Champion was considered to enjoy immunity in some districts in Kent, but is now very badly diseased. The old varieties of black currant were never found to be attacked in Kent until the last five years. Now some of the worst cases may be seen in cottage gardens when they grow. The Boskoop Giant is to some extent resistant, owing to its very strong growth. The French currant is at present only slightly attacked in this country and is worth trying, but will probably share the same fate as others. MEANS BY WHICH THE DISEASE IS SPREAD. The ways in which the mite is carried from bush to bush and plantation to plantation are many. 238 Insect Pests. The wind, the clothes of the men working among diseased bushes and the soil carried away on their boots are certain means. Lady- bird beetles feeding on aphis on the currants carry the acari with them. One of the most prevalent means is distribution by the Red Bee (Andrena rufa) and the Hive Bee (Apis mellifica), both of which visit the bushes when in blossom. The great cause of the increased area over which the attack has spread is to be looked for in the propagation of diseased cuttings from infested stock. When considering this point, it should be noticed that the old varieties of black currant were rarely, if ever, attacked, and cuttings were seldom taken from them, while one of the commonest varieties, and the one that was very largely propa- gated, namely, the Baldwin, is also the kind that is the worst infested. Owing to the prevalence of disease, growers have given up the Baldwin to some extent for other varieties, such as Black Naples and Lee’s Prolific, with the result that these are now, in many districts, as much infested as the Baldwin variety. Before the attack was so well known as is the case at the present time, the sending out of diseased stock from nurseries was to a large extent responsible for the spread of infestation. Records show that cuttings have been taken from infested bushes solely on account of the large size of the buds, which was taken as an indication of extra strength and vigour. I am quite sure from some observations made that the mite may be spread, from an infested to a clean plantation, by means of the baskets used in picking the fruit. Some of the agents of distribution mentioned above, especially insects, would probably form the natural means whereby the disease is spread, and if this distribution had been dependent on them alone, the disease would not have obtained such a strong hold as is now the case, and would not have spread to anything like its present extent. The grower and the nurseryman, however, by means of propaga- tion from diseased stock, have done more to cause the loss which they now experience than all the natural agents put together. The necessity of obtaining clean cuttings in the first place cannot be too strongly insisted upon, and when obtained they should be put out on fresh ground not previously planted with black currants, situated as far away as possible from any infested plantation. It is possible also that birds may help to carry the pest from place to place over wide areas. Insects, etc., Injurious to Currants. 239 SPREAD OF INFESTATION IN A PLANTATION, With regard to the rapidity with which the disease spreads from bush to bush in a plantation, Lewis made the followiug observations at Wye. In a plantation containing about a thousand bushes (Baldwin variety) there was here and there a bush having one or perhaps two big buds upon it, but never more than two. In January 1901, he attached labels to these infested bushes, showing the number of swollen buds and their position on the plant. In the following December he found that the bushes which had been labelled were covered with big bud. In no instance, however, had the unlabelled bushes surrounding them been attacked.* From this it would seem that the infestation in a plantation does not spread rapidly from plant to plant. There is, however, every reason to believe, from direct experiment, that when bushes become covered with big bud, many of the mites in the spring will be compelled to migrate, and the attack may then be spread from one badly infested bush to all the bushes round it. Once these have been attacked, even if only to the extent of one bud (and this is what usually happens, as comparatively few mites out of the thousands compelled to migrate will reach a congenial position), then that bush will be covered with big bud by the end of the following season, and the mites will migrate from it to the surrounding bushes in the ensuing spring. ‘This emphasises the necessity and great importance of pulling up and burning any infested bush in a plantation comparatively free, and this should be done immediately any big bud is detected on a bush. This, of course, only applies to where one or two bushes show signs of attack. In order to prove that the mites migrate from bushes that are covered with big bud, and to find out how rapidly the infestation is carried to surrounding bushes, Lewis tried the following experiment at Wye. In an isolated position far removed from any possible outside source of infestation, three very badly diseased bushes were planted and surrounded by young healthy plants known to be entirely free from disease. These were all surrounded by wire-netting to prevent them from being disturbed in any way and to exclude birds. They were put in in December 1900, and in the following November the young bushes, with two exceptions, were infested with big bud, two or three big buds being present on each. * These bushes were four years old, planted ten feet between the rows and three feet apart in the rows. 240 Insect Pests. These observations of Lewis, the most complete yet made on this pest, all tend to show how necessary it is to grub any bushes showing sions of bad infestation and the hand-picking of those showing traces of the disease. \ Precuntan Arrack of THE Big Bup Mire ox Rep CURRANTS, A very curious attack of the big bud mite was recorded by Mr. (a. VL D. Rintoul. FIG, 180.—ABNORMAL ATTACK OF BIG BUD ON RED CURRANTS. Thomas Edwards of Grange, Gillingham, Kent, in November 1900, on red currant bushes. ‘This was the second he had found (7). Later Mr. Edwards wrote me that he had had such a bad attack of big bud in the black currants that he lad destroyed them by burning. The attacked red currants were raised by himself and not imported. The resulting disease caused by the mites presented such very marked features that I decided to send the acari to Dr. Nalepa, of Vienna, who reported that they were undoubtedly the Lriophyes ribis, Nalepa, which causes the “big bud” in black currants. Insects, etc., Injurious to Currants. 241 The mites produced a dense growth of buds, every here and there, which were found to be teeming with them. At the same time the shoots bearing the attacked buds were abnormally swollen, many twice the thickness of normal ones. Although the buds were teeming with mites, no trace of eggs could be found. The dense mass of buds occurred in smaller areas all up the stem, as shown in the photograph. This new working of the gall mite is certainly far more serious in the red currant than in the black, and growers cannot do better than burn all bushes in which it appears, on the first sign of disease, as was done in this case. Carpenter also records (12) this pest in red currants in Ireland, but says, “the presence on that kind of fruit seems to have no serious effect.” NATURAL ENEMIES. So far no natural enemies of any account have been found. The following may, however, be mentioned. A Tortrix (Yortriz podana, Scop.) Frepinc 1x Bia Bun. Mr. E. Leonard Gill, writing from Barras Bridge, Newcastle-upon- Tyne, on the 29th of May, 1906, sent twigs of black currants badly attacked with “big bud.” He wrote as follows :—“I sent samples of black currant twigs which have been damaged by some insect. The bushes in this neighbourhood are being damaged a good deal in this way this year. The caterpillars in the samples appear to be those of a Tortrix, possibly an Antithesia,” etc. In early June, Mr. Gill wrote saying that there did not appear much hope that the caterpillar was doing much to check the increase of the mites, but that he was obtaining evidence to bear on the subject. On the 19th of June, Mr. Gill wrote: “I have been unable to obtain a proper supply of ‘big buds’ to feed the Tortrix on, and they seem to regard the ‘big buds’ very definitely as their proper food. Two of them have already spun up in leaves, and it is possible that these will emerge in due course.” Finally, Mr. Gill wrote on the 21st of August that he had bred Lozotenia fulvana (pyrastrana or podana), but that he does not see that they will have any definite effect in checking the disease (8). A number of this Tortrix have been since bred from the “big buds,” but at present there is no evidence to show that they do any good. None have been found in clean buds. With regard to the presence in diseased buds of other mites and R 242 Insect Pests. of insects which may possibly prey upon /. ribis, Lewis mentioned a dipterous larva as being commonly met with. This larva was often seen in “big buds,” but it fed slowly and the mites increased so rapidly that it did no good. Concerning this larva, which is the maggot stage of a two-winged fly, the late Miss Ormerod mentioned some years ago (9) that “there appears to be no doubt that it was feeding upon the Phytopti.” Lewis also says: “I have noted certain species of Thrips, and various insects belonging to the Collembola, a sub-order of the Aptera, but though many of the former are predaceous and are known to feed on Curculio eggs and Phylloxera (10), the latter, so far as I know, feed only on refuse animal and vegetable matter, and were doubtless chance visitors from the old diseased dried-up buds, filled with the remains of the gall mites originally infesting them. “ Acari are numerous in the diseased buds, among those met with being a species of Tetranychus closely related to the red spider, and two species of the genera Zyroglyphus and Sejus; the former genus belonging to the family of the cheese mites, and the latter to the Gamaside, a family of mites which are parasitic on insects. I have often found representatives of these two genera in the buds of the hazel infested with £. avellanw, and Mr. Theobald quotes them as being found in buds attacked by the yew mite. I have often noticed outside the diseased buds numbers of a species of Bryobia.” Lewis also considers that beetle mites (Oriletida) devour many of the Eriophyes when they are migrating, and states that “they have also been noticed devouring the galled patches on plum leaves attacked by the plum mite.” None of the above-mentioned mites and insects can prey upon JF. vibis to any great extent, as they produce no lessening in the spread of this disease. Some small Chalcidide have also been bred from this Eriophyes, and Collinge (13) records the Seven-spotted Ladybird (Coccinella 7- punctate) as an enemy. PREVENTION AND TREATMENT. So much has been said and written on this subject that it is impossible to enter into all the various supposed remedies. At present all that can be said is that we know of no means of destroying this serious pest. Several things, however, can be done to check it :— (1) Cultivation from clean stock is first to be borne in mind. Clean stock can be obtained, especially from abroad. The French varieties are, we may say, free from this mite, and, moreover, Insects, etc., Injurious to Currants. 243 according to many growers, resist the attack. A few, on the other hand, find them to be attacked. In one or two places I have seen the French as bad as any other variety, but such is very unusual. Clean stock can be got here and there in Britain, notably in North- umberland, parts of Kent, and in parts of Hampshire. I have seen many clean plantations dotted over the country. It is important that cultivation should be made from this clean stock.* (2) Disinfection of cuttings. Cuttings can be safely disinfected by immersing them in water for some days before setting. Cold water has been found quite successful if left in it fora couple of days. A better treatment was found by Pickering, namely, of immersing the material in water at 115° F, for ten minutes before planting (14). (3) Immune Stock. No such thing exists, but we may well bear in mind that certain varieties do resist this disease. Of all, the Boskoop Giant is best; this is not due to any actual immunity, but to strong growth. The French must also be duly considered. The old Kent Cottage currant was found to resist this disease for many years, but now it is as bad as any other. A strong growing variety is that which will withstand it longest, and that is all that is needed, for in such a paying crop we can well afford to grub and replant when the disease has got too strong a hold upon the bushes. (4) Hund-piching. Nothing is better than this. If a plantation is gone over twice a year and the swollen buds picked into sacks and burnt the pest can be well kept in hand. From repeated observations I have found that the bud above and the bud below a swollen one contains mites, and thus in hand-picking it is well to take one off above and below the diseased one. (5) Dusting with Lime and Sulphur. The writer has never found this of the least benefit, but two large growers who can be relied upon have found it beneficial. On the other hand, we must note the record of hundreds of others, who have found little or no use in this treatment. It is mentioned here in case anyone cares to try it, but from all the reports sent me and from personal experience it cannot be recommended, as too frequently it means useless expenditure of money. The treatment as advised by Mr. Collinge is as follows :—Dust * Most unfortunately the importation of French currants is prohibited by the Board of Agriculture, as it is said to be a host of the American Gooseberry Mildew. Te 244 Insect Pests. with one part of finely ground quicklime and two parts of sulphur. This requires to be done three times, in spring and early summer, at intervals of a fortnight. It is important that the plants be moist, if not so they must be sprayed with plain water first. Considerable damage is often done by this treatment, owing to the scorching of the leaves and shanking off of the fruit. Nothing further need be said on this subject; all other methods, such as fumigation, spraying and greasing the bushes (a thoroughly unpractical method), are of little or no value. The grower must rely on hand-picking, the growing of strong varieties, grubbing and replanting with clean stock when the plantation is so badly infested that it becomes unproductive. REFERENCES. (1) Newstead, R. Recent Investigations on the Currant Bud Mite. British Naturalist, June, 1894. (2) Lewis, H. J. Journal 8. E. Agri. College, No. 11, pp. 55-80 (1902). (3) Warburton, C. ‘Orchard and Bush Fruit Pests and how to Combat Them,’ p. 17 (1902), and Linnean Society’s Journal (Zool.), XXVIII, pp. 366-378. (4) Westwood, J. O. Gardeners’ Chronicle (1869). (5) Pickering, Spencer U. Second Report of the Woburn Experimental Fruit Farm (1900). (6) Lewis, H. J. Journal 8, E. Agri. Coll., No. 7, August (1898). (7) Theobald, F. V. Report on Economie Zoology for the year ending April 1st, 1907, p. 58 (1907). (8) Theobald, F. V. Idem, p. 54 (1907). (9) Ormerod, E. A. Report of Observations on Injurious Insects (1893). (10) Theobald, F. V. General Notes on Thripide. Journal 8S. E. Agri. Coll, IX., April, 1900. ; (11) Warburton, Cecil. ‘Orchard and Bush Fruit Pests and how to Combat Thei,’ p. 17 (1902). (12) Carpenter, G. H. Injurious Insects and Other Animals observed in Ireland during the year 1906. Ec. Proc. Royal Dublin Soc. Vol. L. pt. 2, p. 441, August (1907). (13) Collinge, W. Report on the Injurious Insects and Other Animals observed in the Midland Counties during 1904, p. 6 (1905). (14) Pickering, Spencer and Theobald, F.V. ‘Fruit Trees and Their Enemies, with a Spraying Calendar,’ p. 81 (1908). DAMSON. LIST OF INSECTS, ETC., INJURIOUS TO THE DAMSON. A. LEPIDOPTERA. Winter Mots (Cheimatobia brumata). Foliage, p. 50. Marcu Morty (Anisoptcryx wscularia). Foliage, p. 61. B. HEMIPTERA. Hop-Damson Aputs (Phorodon humuli vy. malaheb. Fonse.). Foliage, p. 247. Yettow Lear Hopper (Chlorita viridula. Fall.). Foliage (vide Plum). €. ACARINA. Lear Gatun Mire (Eriophyes padi. Nalepa). Rare on Damson. Leafage, p. 204. THE HOP-DAMSON APHIS. (Phorodon humuli var, ialaheb. Fonse.) This aphis, which is so well known in hop districts, is not only a serious pest of the hop grower, for the orchardist also suffers from its ravages. The damson is frequently attacked to a serious extent, just at the time it is in the most delicate stage, when the young leaves are unfolding. Lire-History axp Hapirs. If we examine damsons in the orchards near hop gardens during the months of November, December, January, February and March, we shall find in the forks of the buds and twigs small shiny black egos—the ova of this aphis. As many as ten may be crammed into one axil. They are attached somewhat firmly to the rind, or even to one another. In form they are spindle-shaped, slightly curved beneath, with a comparatively soft shell of a shiny black colour, and resemble other aphis eggs; in fact, on the same trees, and almost exactly alike, may now and then be found the ova of the Plum Aphis (Aphis pruni), but the latter are often deposited just under the bud, whereas those of Auimu/i are laid in the axils of the 248 Insect Pests. In this position they remain until the buds The earliest date I have noticed them That is later than the hatching of small twigs and buds. of the damson burst in spring. hatch out is the 29th of March. the true plum aphis. Not only are these ova laid on the damsons and now and then plums, but also in numbers on the sloe; in fact, the damson and sloe ave most affected. During the autumn vast swarms of the hop aphis cover the leaves of all prunes, yet but very few eges are detected on plum trees and greengage, whilst the damsons are literally covered. If damsons and sloes exist in the neighbourhood they are used as winter eg¢ quarters in preference to any other prunes. The planting of damsons without any necessary checks has been a means of increase for the hop aphis. On these trees the ova hatch out in sprine into (FL Edenden. FIG, IS1.—HEAD OF VIVIPAROUS FEMALE OF TILE TOV-DAMSON APHIS (Phorodon humdi). (Greatly enlarged.) lice, which speedily grow into wingless and viviparous females: these are sometimes spoken of as “queen-” or “stem-mothers.” These wingless females produce living young like themselves, and suck out the sap of the young damson leaves, often causing untold damage, and the blossom may suller, They can at once be told from the Plum Aphis (4. prini), by the small processes on ti head shown in the figures. Some authorities have considered this prune-hop aphis a distinct variety, known as variety malaheb: there 18 no reason for giving it another name, it is the same aphis although the antennal swellings are not so developed on the damneen as when it is on the hops. On the prunes there seem to be normally Insects, etc., Injurious to the Damson. 249 three generations, but there may be only two, or as many as five, depending upon the food. The damson form assumes wings, and then leaves the first plant host and betakes itself to the hops. This migrating form is a winged viviparous female with small cephalic and antennal processes, They appear on the hops from May onwards. In 1897 the migration lasted from the 25th of May to the 14th of June—a “climatic check” came in between. In 1899 they did not leave the damson until the 20th of June. From the few observations I have made, I find even approximate dates difficult to give. All that we can definitely say is that somewhere about the end of May to the second week in June the aphides leave the damsons, sloes, and other prunes, and fly off to the hops. These winged migratory forms ave viviparous females, which at once commence to bring forth living young, the so-called Jice. Within ten days of birth these lice become the apterous viviparous females, and produce other lice, and so on for several generations. These lce and apterous females have not only more distinct frontal tuber- cles, but also a distinct process on each basal joint of the antenne. Sometimes these viviparous wing- CM Ate eaamond. less, dumeles ot Tice may ‘tu. Fe Ee end. ee into pup, and so another brood Slightly enlarged.) of winged feinales in the summer, which fly from hop bine to bine and garden to garden. This, I noticed in 1897, took place on a number of bines where lice were in great abundance early in August. These wingless and sometimes winged viviparous females go on until the autumn, when they nearly all enter the pupal stage, become winged, and leave the hops. The dates of this migration vary. In 1896 I noticed them moving on the 20th of September, and again on the 22nd. In 1899, the first migration in the neighbourhood of Ashford took place on the 18th of September, when the air was laden with them; another large migration took place on the 28th of the same month; whilst 250 Insect Pests. in 1898 many females were on the wing as late as the 16th of October. These migrating vivi iparous females fly back to damson and sloe, but, as stated before, in smaller numbers to other prunes. J have also seen them viving rise to the next veneration on hawthorn hedges and cherry, but these latter never survived. This migra- tion, as far as observations go, takes place chiefly on still days and when the air is warm. They ¢ do not seem to fly instinctively to the damson, but rather are carried there by chance. Oaks, ash and all manner of trees get covered by the migrants, the majority of which could never fon the prunes, and even where a large damson plantation adjoined a hop garden, thousands of the aphides were D (FL Edenden, FIG, 182.—WINGLESS FEMALES OF THE HOP-DAMSON APHIS. (Greatly enlarged. ) moving in an opposite direction. The direction of their migration is, it seems, dependent on currents of air—hence hundreds of thousands die, for the oviverous females do not seem to he able to live on other trees than prunes. These migrants, a few hours after they have become located on their proper plant, produce a few lice, which grow into oviparous winvless females. It scems that these winged return-migrants produce very few lice, usually only four are produced by each winged female, but a few give rise to five or six. The embryos can easily be seen in the parent’s body. About this time winged imales also make their appearance. These males are sinaller than the winged females. They come Insects, etc., Injurious to the Damson. 251 partly from the produce of the migrants from the hops and rarely from the hops themselves—the winged males appearing some ten days later than the winged female migrants. These males fertilise the oviparons wineless females, and may be found in ninbers in copula on the prunes. In ahout two days after copulation the females deposit one or more greenish eggs, which soon become black. They commence ovipositing in October in small munbers; great numbers of eges have been observed by the 22nd, oviposition ceasing on the 8th of November. Here the eges remain all the winter, starting fresh in the spring, as previously narrated, Phovadan hunudi can, however, carry on its existence in another way. On two oceasions aphides have been found on the hop-shoots ewly in the year (April). During the winters of 796,798, and 799, 1 frequently searched for Awmeli in the hop-InHs and on broken bine, | both as eggs and aphides. In 1898, : “OD in February, I found two wingless viviparous females in the hills. It appears, therefore, that continuity may be carried on during the winter in that way as well as in the ege stage on prunes. Several observers have told me that they notice lice on the hops early in the year, and probably these have wintered in the hills, and commence to give rise to [iM B. : same Geren Nears & Bn rn Ave os Fig, 183. —OVIPAROUS FEMALE OF TILE HOP: young as soon as the weather be ee ee ag ae comes favourable. In experiments (Greatly eHlat Zed) eonducted at Stoke Edith in 1884, it was found that where the hills were dressed no early lice appeared, but the rest of the garden was infested. It is thus pretty clear that this aphis lives in two ways during the winter—upon the prunes in the egg stage, and a few in the hop- lills and other shelter, and thus living entirely upon the hop ; damage being done to both host plants. DESCRIPTION OF TILK APHIS, (1) Apterous Vieiperous Female, On prunes, oval in form ; bright to vellowish-green, with a central dorsal deep green line, and a deep green jagged lateral stripe on each side. The frontal tubercles distinct. Eyes, reddish. Legs and antenne, apple green. Length 252 Insect Pests. from 1 to 2 mm. No distinct prominence on the first antennal joint. (2) Winged Viviparous or First Migrant Female. On hops, coming from prunes. Apple-green, with dark blackish-brown head, thoracic lobes and spots under the wings. Abdomen also with dark brown transverse bands, and three or four blackish spots on each side. Legs, green and black. Eyes, reddish-brown. In this female the first antennal joint has a small projection. (3) Apterous Viviparous Female, On hops. Elongate oval, pale green, smaller than wingless female on prune. Body semi-transparent and shiny. From one to three dark green lines down the back, the lateral ones broken. Eyes, red. Frontal tubercles distinct, first antennal segments with large process. Length from 15 mm. (4) Second Winged Viviparous Female. This winged female that flies back to the prune is larger than the one that left, the wing expanse being between 6 and 7 mm, and the body length from 13 to 2 mm. Colour, pale green. Head and prothorax, dark brown. Thoracic lobes, brown, and one or two brown transverse bars on the abdomen; four blackish spots on each side; anal plate also dark brown. Eyes,red. Antenne, green at base, brown at tips. Stigma of wing, green; base of wing, yellowish. Frontal tubercles not well developed. (5) Ovigerous Wingless Female. On prunes. At first almost white, but becoming olive, slightly mottled before egg-laying. Small and somewhat flattened. Frontal tubercles well developed, and also antennal processes. (6) iVinged Male. Pale green; thoracic lobes and scutellum, deep olive-brown. Eyes, red. Wings similar to female. Antenne much longer than body. Frontal tubercles small; antennal processes moderate. The pupe are greenish-yellow and pilose. Eyes as usual, red. Wing buds tipped with pale brown. Tubercles developed. PREVENTION AND TREATMENT. The cultivation of hops in the neighbourhood of damsons is decidedly giving this destructive insect undue advantages of in- creasing. But that practice may be made to work in an advan- tageous way, if growers wash their damsons early, when lice are seen upon them, and so kill the insect before its advent on the hops. Considerable harm is done to the prunes by these lice, and thus washing is doubly beneficial. The majority of eggs hatch out by Insects, etc., Injurious to the Damson. 253 TABLE SHowine Lire-History or Hop Aruis. A. DAMSON, Evc. Winter. Ova Spring. Pl 3 generations of same peel and Pupe Pn ae May | June. Winged Vivip. Females 39—> Rest of Summer. None present. Autumn. Winged Vivip. Females LEE EEE Ovigerous Females and Winged Males Winter. Ova. 1st Vivip. Wingless Females B. HOPS. Wingless Females (rare) Vivip. Wingless Females Vivip. I | Wingless Females Vivip. | | Wingless Females Vivip. Wingless Females Vivip. ene Winged Vivip. and Wingless Vivip. Females | | se | | Sen tach | Wingless Vivip. Females (lice). non ein: || eae l ||| Wingless Vivip. Females I | ee TEER Pee a Me female migrants Few Wingless Females 254 Insect Pests. the end of April, so that that would be the best time to wash with any good aphicide. Autumn washing, as soon as the damsons are gathered, would doubtless do much good, but spring washing, when the lice are all out, would tend largely to decrease this pest and save the loss to the damsons. Of course, we shall always have attack coming from wild prunes to the hops, and even a few from direct development on the hops. Lime, salt and waterglass wash stops the eggs hatching. It will always be impossible to entirely prevent this pest, as it breeds on wild prunes and thence migrates to the hops, and so back, perchance, to usually uninfested damsons. The eradication of sloe and bullace should, of course, be aimed at near either hop or fruit plantations, but at present this seems impossible. We can do much to prevent damage in damsons, however, by washing them, just before the buds burst, with the lime and salt wash for a couple of years, for this undoubtedly prevents the young from escaping from the egg-shells, just as it does with the plum aphis. Should this not have been done, if the trees are seen to be badly infested, a good spraying with tobacco wash should be given them. If this is considered too expensive, then, in the place of it, use the soft soap and quassia wash. THE SLOE AND DAMSON GALL MITE. (Eriophycs padi. Nalepa.) The leaves of the sloes in the hedges and also of the wild bullace are frequently seen to have the edges of the leaves galled. These marginal galls are paler than the leaf, rather roughened and often velvety in texture. These galls are formed by a mite formerly known as Phytoptus attenwatus of Bremi (1). I have now and then found it on the damson, but am not aware of it having done any appreciable damage. Nalepa (2) mentions it on Prunus padus, and Houard (3) on Prunus insititiu, Prunus domes- ticus, Prunus spinosus, Amygdalus communis and also Prunus padis, I have notes of it on damsons in Kent, Surrey and Devon. REFERENCES. (1) Murray, A. ‘Economic Entomology, Aptera,’ p. 359. (2) Nalepa, A. ‘ Zur Systematik der Gallmilben,’ p. 55. (8) Houard, C. ‘Tes Zoocécidies des Plantes d'Europe,’ p. 556 (1908). FIG. INSECTS, ETC., INJURIOUS TO THE FIG. HEMIPTERA. Meaty Bues (Dactylopius citri and D. longispinus). Axils of leaves, ete., p. 483. Peacu Scare (Lecaniwm persice. Geoff.). Wood and leaves, p. 321. Tue Sort Brown Scatz (Lecaniwm hesperidum. Linn.), p. 257. Narrow Fie Scare (Lepidosaphes ficus. Sig.), p. 258. CAMELLIA ScaLE (Aspidiotus camellie. Sig.), p. 258. Lone Brack ScaLe (Ischnaspis filiformis. Doug.). Foliage and stem, p. 259. THYSANOPTERA. THUNDER FLy or Turiprs (Thrips sp.). Foliage, p. 852. ACARINA. Rep Spier (Tetranychus telarius). Foliage, pp. 397, 488. No insects seem to feed upon the fig in the open in this country, but under glass it is frequently attacked by Red Spider and Thrips. More rarely we find Mealy Bugs and the Scale insects dealt with here. THE SOFT BROWN SCALE. (Lecanium hesperidum, Linneeus.) This species I have found twice on figs in this country. It is common under glass, and attacks a great number of plants, and also occurs out of doors on ivy, myrtle, holly and bay. The female when full grown is about 4 inch long; the colour varies from yellow, when young, to brown when adult. The young female is flattish, and has often brown markings on the yellow ground, forming an irregular network, which coalesces as the insect grows. After death the insect becomes pale brown. In form, it is convex, and there is a trace of a central ridge; after death the edges become crinkled. The female is viviparous. The male is very un- common. The puparium of the male is said by Newstead to be glossy. This species may easily be told by the quantity of honeydew it secretes, and the consequent growth of black smut fungus around it. 8 258 Insect Pests. In this insect no true scale is formed, what is called the scale is merely the hardened skin of the female. It will breed in this country very rapidly under glass, and it is important to kill it directly it is seen on the wood of the fig, before it rets on to the leaves. Oo 2) THE CAMELLIA SCALE. (Aspidiotus comelliv, Signoret.) This limpet-shaped scale is often very common on cultivated figs, and unless kept in hand will spread on them to a dangerous extent. The female scale is either oblong or broadly pyriform, its colour varies from reddish-brown to dusky brown, with the so-called exuvium at the apex, paler in colour; there is a distinct pure white lower scale. The latter remains on the plant when the insect is removed; the re-vellow and the seale female is orang reaches about 3!, inch in diameter. The male is wnknown. It oceurs on many other plants, such as the camellia, euphorbia, be- gonias, myrtles, asparagus fern, but only under glass in this country, It increases with great rapidity, there heing a succession ot broods, reprodue- tion always being parthenogenetic. THE NARROW FIG SCALE. ( Lepidosephes Ju IS, Signoret. ) This Coceid is sometimes found on figs under glass. Morgan (1) refers to it as having been found in abundance on pot figs at the Royal Horticultural Society's Gardens at Chiswick. The plants had been imported from France fifteen years previously. iG 18S iREEN SOM The scale much resembles that of Axspidiotus camellia s :. = ‘ a ee Re oD our Apple Mussel Seale, but that of the » female scale (X 25): 2, scales on ' 4 young figs. female is more clongate, but narrower, Insects, etc., Injurious to the Fig. 259 and less dilated at the posterior extremity. It is about 44; inch in length. THE LONG BLACK SCALE. (Ischnaspis filiformis. Douglas.) This very marked scale insect now and again may be found on figs under glass. It can at once be told by its length and narrowness, many of the female scales are nearly } inch long. In colour the scale is shiny black with grey edges, an orange spot at one end (the larval exuvium); as a rule they are about eight times as long as broad; beneath the scale is white, a nearly complete ventral scale being present. The adult female in the scale chamber is elongate and yellow. The male scale is small and much shorter than the female. The male insect is unknown. Its scale is only 35 inch long. This Coccid I have found twice on figs, and Newstead (2) records it on ficus in Ireland. Many plants are subject to its attack, including palms, Anthurium, Strychnos, Myristica, Latania, Magnolia, Jasminum, Monstera, and on coffee at Lagos. It occurs in the open in Brazil, Japan, Demerara, West Indies and Panama. It is said to be particularly difficult to destroy, and thus should be stringently guarded against. TREATMENT OF Fic SCALES. The Soft Brown Scales and the others mentioned may do a lot of harm if allowed to spread. It is important to clear them off the wood at once, and so stop them from getting on to the foliage and fruit. The best treatment is hand-sponging with dilute emulsion when the leaves are off, followed later by a good syringing with plain water; and when the Soft Brown Scale is the culprit the addition of quassia, as it cleans off the smut fungus, etc., which follow after the insect. REFERENCES. (1) Morgan, A. C. F. Ento. Mo. Mag., p. 230 (1890). (2) Newstead, R. ‘Mono. British Coccide,’ I., p. 212 (1900). GOOSEBERRY. ( 263 ) LIST OF INSECTS, ETC., INJURIOUS TO THE GOOSEBERRY. A. LEPIDOPTERA. Currant CLEARWING (Egeria tipwliformis. Clerck.). Stems and Shoots, p. 203. Maeriz Morn (Abraxas grossulariata. Linn.). Foliage, p. 206. Dor Mors (Mamestra persicarie, Linn.). Foliage, p. 264. Winter Mora (Cheimatobia brumata. Linn.). Foliage, p. 50. B. COLEOPTERA. Rep-Leecep WeEEvIL (Otiorhynchus picipes. Linn.), Buds and Foliage, p. 426. C. HYMENOPTERA. CURRANT AND GOOSEBERRY SAWwrFrLy (Nematus ribesit. Cam.). Foliage and Fruit, p. 266. THe ALLIED SawrFty (Nematus consobrinus. Voll.). Foliage and Fruit, p. 272. Tue Buacx-Bopiep Sawrty (Nematus appendiculatus. Htg.). Foliage, p. 274. GooseBERRY Empuytus (Himphytus grossularice. Kl.), p. 275. D. HEMIPTERA. GoosEBERRY ApuHIs (Aphis grossulariata). Foliage and Shoots. Currant Aputs (Myzus ribis. Linn.). Foliage, p. 219 Brown Scate (Lecanium persicw var. sarothamut). Shoots and Wood, p. 226. E. ACARINA. GoosrBerry Rep SprpER (Bryobia nobilis. Th.). Foliage, p. 278. F. MOLLUSCA. Grey Suue (Agriolimar agrestis. Linn.). Blossoms, p. 282. 264 Insect Pests. THE DOT MOTH. (Mamestra persicaviv. Linn.) The Dot Moth caterpillars are very frequently recorded as pests on the gooseberry. Their food plants are varied; as a rule garden flowers suffer most, such as dahlias, marguerites, marigolds, pansies, geums, etc.; vegetables are also eaten by these larve, including cabbages of all kinds, lettuce, mint, parsley ; fruit trees and bushes are also attacked ; there are numerous accounts of their feeding on the gooseberry and now and again on apple, plum, raspberry, currant. (BF. Edenden. FIG. 185.—MOTH AND CATERPILLAR OF THE DOT MOTH (Mamestra persicaria), Other plants upon which it feeds are lilac, poplar, clematis, ivy, etc. (1). They are ravenous feeders, stripping the plants in a very short time. . This insect is found all over Great Britain and in most parts of Continental Europe. The caterpillars are subject to great variation in colour, apparently influenced to some extent by their food; the colouring rendering eee often extremely difficult to find when at rest upon their food plant. Insects, etc., Injurious to the Gooseberry. 265 LirE-History anp Hapirs. The moth appears in June and July. In size it varies from 13 to 17 inch; the front wings are blackish (with a dull purplish gloss when fresh) marked with rusty brown marks, with small pale spots at the tips and the hindermost edge, often, however, indistinct and with a large white kidney-shaped dot, often very pronounced ; the hind wings are dusky-grey shading into dull whitish at the base. They fly at night and deposit their eggs upon the food plants; as many as thirty are laid by each female. The larvee appear from the beginning of July until the latter part of August, the last hatched ones not maturing until the end of September, and some even being found as late as the middle of October; the majority have reached maturity by the end of September. The larva varies in colour from pale green to grey or deep green and even reddish-grey ; there is a pale dorsal line and semi-lozenge- shaped darker marks along the back from the fourth to the eleventh segments ; the spiracular line is somewhat paler and there are five dark oblique bands below, the twelfth segment is distinctly humped ; the first two pairs of the dorsal markings are always deepest in hue ; the head is green, and the thoracic shield has two dark green to brown patches. That they vary in colour, according not only to the plant upon which they live, but also upon the same plant according to the part of the plant attacked, is well known. Buckler (2) figures four larve from Pteris aquilina; the green ones occurred on the green parts of the leaves, the brown on the brown parts. When mature the larva reaches about 14 inch in length, it then falls to the ground and changes into a brown pupa in the earth beneath where it has been feeding and remains in that condition until the following summer. PREVENTION AND REMEDIES. In gardens hand-picking is advisable: it is a sure means of lessening attack. Where they occur in large numbers on gooseberry and fruit bushes it would be best to spray with some arsenical wash. It is said that if they are shaken off the plants, and then the ground drenched with cold water, especially if the weather is hot, that violent purging is brought on, and the caterpillars are reduced to mere skins (3). Gardens that have been attacked by the Dot Moth larve should be lightly forked over, so as to expose the pupe and so place them where they can be devoured by birds. It would be worth while to 266 Insect Pests. let ducks run over the infested ground, or if an orchard, fowls ; both ducks and fowls devour the pupie readily. REFERENCES. (1) Theobald, F. V. Second Report on Economic Zoology (Brit. Mus. N.H.), p. 156 (1904). (2) Buckler, W. *Larvie of British Butterflies and Moths,’ vol. IV., pl. lxvi. (1891), (3) Ormerod, E. ‘Handbook of Insects Injurious to Orchard and Bush Fruits,’ p. 86 | 18938). THE COMMON GOOSEBERRY AND CURRANT SAWFLY. (™ malis ribesit, Scop.) soth currant and gooseberry are attacked by the larve of this sawtly, especially the gooseberry. The red currant is frequently [i. Bdenden, FIG. 186.—RKED CURRANT BUSIL DEPOLTATED BY SAWPLY LARV.E CVentatus ribesii), Insects, etc., Injurious to the Gooseberry. 267 attacked, the black currant but rarely. The larvie not only strip the leaves, but the fruit of the gooseberry is also devoured by them. The attack of this pest cannot well be confused with any other, save that of the allied species of Nematus, N. consobrinus and N. appendiculatus, Sawtly larvie are easily distinguished by the number of prolegs, in this genus fourteen, which, together with the six true legs, makes twenty legs in all. This insect oceurs over most of Britain. Whitehead records it from Cambridgeshire, Gloucestershire, Kent and Worcestershire (1), [ J. G. Blakey. FIG. U87.—OVA OF GOOSEBERRY SAWFLY. (x 2.) (Not in normal position.) especially in the years 1876, 1879 and 1881; Ormerod (2) from various places in Scotland, also Herefordshire, Buckinghamshire, ete. Carpenter records it (3) from Ireland. Reports or observations made in Devon, Somerset, Huntingdonshire, Surrey, Middlesex, also Sussex and Yorkshire, show it to be common in those counties. Probably it occurs wherever the gooseberry and currant grow. Lire-History ANb Haprts. The adult is rather variable in colour and = size, and differs considerably in the two sexes. The female is yellowish to almost orange, with black head, three 268 Insect Pests. large black marks on the mesothorax, and most of the pleurie also black; antennw are deep brown to black, sometimes testaceous beneath; legs pale testaceous yellow, coxw and trochanters very pale, apex of the posterior tibiie and all the hind tarsi deep brown, also the tarsi of the fore legs to some extent. Wings transparent and iridescent, the stigma black, the costa testaceous at the base. Length } inch. The male has the thorax nearly all black, except a yellow band in front, and the dorsum of the abdomen is black except at the (Ir. Edenden. FIG. 187A.—THE GOOSEBERRY SAWFLY. A, stripped shoot ; B, immature larvie feeding on leaves. apex, the sides and lower surface yellowish. The last abdominal segment is expanded into a projecting lobe in the middle. Length + inch. : This species can at once be told by the back of the thorax, the scutellum and metanotum being always yellowish. The adults appear in April and May, and occur in three suecessive broods at least during the summer. The female deposits her eggs in rows along the ribs of the leaves, on the underside. As snany as forty eggs have been counted on one leaf. The ova are deposited separately each egg being placed in a small slit cut in the leaf by means of the saw-like processes characteristic of the females of these insects. Unlike some of the Tenthredinidw, the eggs are only slightly buried ¢ c Insects, etc., Injurious to the Gooseberry. 269 in the leaf substance. I have failed to detect any gummy covering deposited by the female said to be present over them. In colour they are almost white to a pale translucent ereen. The length of the egg stage is from five to twelve days, according to climatic conditions (+). The larvie are green when young, with black heads and small black specks on the body. The first and part of the second segment and the last two segments are orange-yellow. Over each leg is a black spot, elevated, forming a kind of tubercle; over each proleg are a pair of black spots, and on the upper part of the see- ments are numerous black points; on the first are eight black spots, on the second and third six on each side; on each abdominal segment are twelve spots, exclusive of the pair on the legs; the spots on the dorsum are roughly arranged in two parallel rows of six each, while those below are irregularly placed. On the upper surface of the anal segment is a large black patch, and on each side where the patch narrows are siX or seven small black spots. After the last moult the larvee assuine a different appearance, they become pale apple-green to bluish-green, orange behind the head and on the tail, whilst the head is pale brown or dull green instead of being black—no spots occur at all. Now and then pale yellow forms occur in this stage. When full grown they reach nearly 3 inch in length. When first hatched the larvie feed off the epidermis of the leaf’; after a day or so they commence to devour little round holes right through the surface, the larve holding on to the edge of the hole. When they get about half-grown they disperse over the bushes and (J. G. Blakey. FIG. 187B.—MATURE LARVE. (X 2.) Insect Pests. feed very ravenously ; fifty having been observed to strip a moderate- sized gooseberry bush in three days. The earliest date that the larvie were observed in 1901 to reach their full-fed stage was the 3rd of June, when many under observa- FIG. 188. COCOON OF GOOSEBERRY SAWFLY. tion commenced to pupate. At the same time there were on the bushes quite small larvie, not one-third grown. These were also of the first brood, but from eges laid later than the fully mature ones. It appears that the same generation of pupe may hatch out over a period of four weeks. The larvwe when ready, fall to the ground and then bury them- selves just under the earth, where they spin a brown or dull yellow case of parchment-like silk, mixed with saliva. This cocoon becomes covered on the outside with little grains of earth. The variety of the colour of the cocoon is very marked, some are very deep coffee-brown, others pale brown and yet others almost yellow. All the larvie do not enter the soil to pupate, for it is by no means unusual to find the cocoons spun against and under a leaf or twig lying on the ground. The majority, however, pupate in the soil in earth-covered cocoons. The pupa is yellowish-green, often very pale, with orange on the thorax and on the apex of the abdomen. The pupal stage lasts duriug the sammer from ten days to nearly three weeks. Miss Ormerod (2) says three weeks. The winter is always passed in the larval stage inside the cocoon beneath the earth, the larvie pupating in the early spring. NuMBER oF Broops or N. RIBESII. Cameron (5) says two broods exist. This statement seems to have been repeatedly copied. From observations made during the last twenty years I find that there are nearly always more than two broods; and as many as four have been observed. During the year 1903 three broods had appeared by July. The first brood appears from April to the end of May; hence we find larve of all sizes on the bushes during the late spring. The first hatched larvee pupate from the middle to the end of May, these hatch out in Mav and early in June. The larvee of the second brood have been observed to mature by the 20th of June, and from these a third brood have been hatched in July. In 1887 I obtained a fowrth eeneration from these flies, which grew rapidly and went to earth on the 2nd of August. Insects, etc., Injurious to the Gooseberry. 27) This fourth brood is unusual, but three frequently oceur. Al- though these generations are quite distinct they generally overlap one another. The number of generations appears to depend on the weather. When it turns cold and wet, not only is development arrested but the larvie are actually destroyed ; in warm fine weather they, on the other hand, develop rapidly. Naruran ENEMIES. There are quite a number of parasites recorded on this insect, but on no occasion have IT been fortunate in observing any one of them. Cameron (5) records the following parasites: Cliples uifidula, ¥. ; Omealus armalus, Dim.; Limneria argentata, Gr; Mesoletis incl no- {IL Edenden. FIG. IS9..—MALE AND FEMALE GOOSEBERRY SAWFLIES. (Natural size and magnified. ) Ievneus, Gr. ML armillutorius, Gr. ; Mesochorus confusus, Hmer. ; JL. qrossuluria, Utz. 3 Tryphon ambiguus, GY. ; T. bipunetotus, Gr. ; P: cephtotes, Gr.; 7. COM PLOSSUS, Rtz.: Ctentseus Prigudus f. Perilissis limitaris, Ga. ; Polysphineta ribesil, Rtz.; Pyyostolus stricticus, Fah. ; and Deyceria fluvicans, Gour., m Europe. Dr. Asa Fitch (6) has bred in America a Chalcid tly, the Zricho- gramme pretiose of Riley, from the eggs of this Nematus, as well as from the ova of Aleyrodes and from those of a Noctuid moth. The parasitised eves of the sawtly become brown and abnormal u shape. The female Chalcid takes two and a half minutes to lay 272 Insect Pests. her egg in that of the sawfly. Another parasitic _Ichneumon attacking this pest in America is Hemiteles nemativorus, Walsh, parasitic on the larvee. The larvee are also attacked by one of the “land bugs” (Podiscus placidus, Uhler), which sucks out the body juices of the pests by means of its piercing proboscis. This hemipteron has black head, legs, thorax, and a red abdomen with a long black central spot crossed by a white line. The larvee of Lace Wing Flies (Hemerobiide) also devour them when young. No natural enemies are known to do much good in this country, REFERENCES. (1) Whitehead, Sir C. ‘Insects Injurious to Fruit Crops,’ p. 33 (1886). (2) Ormerod, E. A. ‘Handbook of Insects Injurious to Orchard and Bush Fruits,’ p. 101 (1898). (8) Carpenter, G. H. Injurious Insects and Other Animals observed in Ireland during 1905. Eco. Pro. Royal Dublin Soc., I., pt. 8, p. 835 (1906). (4) Theobald, F. V. Journal 8. E. Agri. Coll., No. 11, pp. 34-38 (1902). (5) Cameron, P. ‘British Phytophagous Hymenoptera,’ vol. II., p. 170 (1884). (6) Fitch, Asa, Twelfth Annual Report of the Injurious Insects of New York (1867) and Transactions of the New York Agricultural Society, vol, XXVII., pp. 931-992 (1867-1868). THE ALLIED GOOSEBERRY SAWFLY. (Nematus consobrinus. Voll.) This insect is by no means as common as the former, but occasionally it is sent with inquiries. It occurs in Holland, Prussia and Siberia, as well as in Britain. It also appears to be known under the name Nematus umbrinus, Zaddach. The female is slightly smaller than NV. ribesit, but the males are much the same size. The female differs in having more yellow on the head, the scutellum and metanotum black, and the abdomen dark basally and showing basal median, dark bands and patches to most of the segments, and in some, most of the dorsum is dark to the seventh segment. Eyes surrounded with brown. The thorax is black, minutely punctured, the pronotum being pale fulvous; the legs are pale fulvous; base of the cox, apex of the posterior tibie and tarsi black; base of the femora and tibia pale. The wings are hyaline and iridescent, and the base of the costa is testaceous, the stigma dark testaceous. Insects, etc., Injurious to the Gooseberry. 273 The insect seems very variable in regards to the amount of black on the thorax and abdomen. Cameron (1) gives two distinct aberrations as follows :—(«) as in type, but the pleuree mostly pale fulvous, instead of shining black, and (2) as in type, but the scutellum black. A distinct variety exists in which the antenne, clypeus, scutellum, and pleurss are black, and the eyes not surrounded with brown; the dorsum of the abdomen being black to the seventh segment. It appears somewhat later than N. ribesii, Miss Ormerod (2) says from a month to six weeks later. Three eggs only seem to be deposited on each leaf. The larve are so far only recorded as feeding on the gooseberry. They have a green head with little black specks and soft hairs; the body is green and shiny and with transverse rows of black tubercles; the second segment and to some extent the last and the sides over the legs yellow; the back has a bluish tint, especially down the middle line. When young the larvee have a black head, green body with black specks. At the last moult they become entirely green with no specks, but with yellow behind the head and on the anal segments. It will thus be seen that in the first and final stages the larvie of the Allied Sawfly resemble those of the Common Gooseberry Sawfly. But the presence of yellow on the sides over the legs will at once distinguish it during the greater part of its development. As far as is at present known only one brood occurs. The larvee pupate in the soil, much as do those of WV. ribesit. Ormerod (2), however, records the following fact: “In observa- tions seut me from Longleat, Mr. Taylor mentions that, unless the locality was just under the surface of the soil close to a wall or other dry place, he considered that the caterpillar preferred nail holes in the wall, or holes in wood for pupating.” This is quite contrary to what we observe in most other Nemti, and is therefore of much interest. Further observations are required concerning this species before anything definite can be said regarding its life-history. REFERENCES. (1) Cameron, P. ‘British Phytophagous Hymenoptera,’ vol. II., p. 131-188 (1884). (2) Ormerod, E. A. ‘Handbook of Insects Injurious to Orchard and Bush Fruits,’ p. 108 (1898). T 274 Insect Pests. THE BLACK-BODIED SAWFLY. (Nematus appendiculatus. Htg.) During 1897 a number of larvee were forwarded from Surrey that were causing serious harm to some gooseberry bushes, that differed totally from the two former species. These proved to be those of the Nematus appendiculatus, a widely distributed sawfly, but seldom appearing in large numbers. Cameron (1) records it from Braemar, Clydesdale, Sutherland, Manchester district, York, Gloucester, around London, Glanvilles Wootton, and Devonshire. I have observed it frequently in Surrey, and have had it sent from Worcestershire, Cambridgeshire, Sussex and Kent (2). On the Continent it has been observed in Norway and Sweden, Germany, Holland, France, and at Riga (Russia). It cannot be confused, either in the adult or larval stage, with either ribesi or consobrinus. The female is black, smooth and shiny ; the abdomen is broad and stout; the legs are white with a yellowish tinge; coxe black at the base; femora reddish, dusky in the middle, the apex of the posterior tibiee and apical tarsal segments black. ‘The trans- parent wings are iridescent, the costa and stigma testaceous. In the male the hind femora are nearly all black, and the posterior tarsi are fuscous. In length the female is about 4 inch, the male dinch. Like MW. consobrinus it is subject to slight variation, some specimens not beiug so pubescent as others. The females appear in May. Two were noticed laying their eggs on the 10th of May. In colour the larva is green to greyish-green, the eyes being surrounded by black circles; from each of these patches proceeds a brown line, narrowing gradually and passing to the summit of the head where they join; the long slender body is much wrinkled; the second and eleventh segments are of a yellowish tint, and also the edges of the sorales the middle and posterior legs and the top of the anal segment; the legs are green with brown claws. When full grown (the only stage in which I have seen them), they reach 4 inch in length. Cameron (1) says the larve appear in June. Those sent me were nearly mature when received on the 14th of June, and pupated on the 20th of June. The partially grown and fully grown larve feed on the edges of the leaves, with the end of the body often curved in the typical NVematus fashion. The specimens under observation pupated in the soil, and formed first a silken then an earthy cocoon, just as the two commoner species Insects, etc., Injurious to the Gooseberry. 275 do. The first fly hatched on the 25th of J uly. Whether this constituted a second brood or a third brood I cannot say. Cameron says there are two generations during the year. The larvae feed on the red currant as well as on the gooseberry, and I have one note of its occurrence on the white currant, It appears to be known also under the two following names : Nematus cathoraticus, Foer, and N. peletert, André. REFERENCES. (1) Cameron, P. ‘Monograph of British Phytophagous Hymenoptera,’ vol. II., _ p. 66 (1884). (2) Theobald, F. V. Journal §. E. Agri. Coll., No. 11, p. 89 (1902), THE GOOSEBERRY EMPHYTUS. (Emphytus grossulurie, Kl.) This species of sawfly feeds on the gooseberry in England, but is too uncommon to do any harm. PARTHENOGENESIS IN GOOSEBERRY SAWFLIES. Parthenogenesis frequently occurs amongst the sawflies. It has been observed in NV. ribesii, N. consobrinus and others by numerous observers. Siebold (Beitr. zur Parth. d. Arth., pp. 107) and Kersler (Die Lebens geschichte von Ceutorhynchus sulcicollis and Nematus ventri- cosus. Cassel, 1866) have both observed it. “There is not the slightest doubt,” says Cameron, “that Vematus ribesit. possesses the faculty of laying unfertilised eges which in- variably yield only males.” This phenomenon was noticed as Jong ago as 1820 by Robert Thorn (Memoirs Caledonian Hort. Society, IV., pl. 2), but he imagined that male and female larvee copulated. The eggs may be laid immediately after the females leave the cocoons and when these unfertilised females have been examined after oviposition no traces of spermatozoa were discovered in the ovaries, while they are easily seen in those that have been fertilised. The first statement made by Cameron was subsequently moditied, for in the Appendix to Vol. I. of his Monograph (p. 218) he says that the virgin females of Abia fusciata and N. ribesii yielded males and females. In NV. rufa, ete., males and females were also produced, but in Hemichroa rufa, Eriocampa ovata, Nematus appendiculatus and others without exception females only were bred. sie 276 Insect Pests. Not only can this parthenogenesis last for one generation, but in one species at least (A. fasciatw) Dr. Osborne (Ent. Mo, Mag., XIX. 97; XX. 200; XXI. 128) has shown that a third gene- ration may be obtained without any male connection. PREVENTION AND TREATMENT. The attack of the gooseberry and currant sawfly is usually fairly persistent. Year after year certain gardens, and even certain parts of a garden, are attacked by these pests. This is when no steps are taken to check the increase of the insects, which, in all cases, pupate in the earth beneath the bushes. From these pupe the adults emerge close to the food plant of their future progeny, and thus can readily deposit their eggs. It is therefore very desirable to check this increase, or to try and exterminate the pests when in their winter quarters. This can be done by removal of the earth and pupe. Removal of surface soil during the winter and burning it or burying it deeply whilst the fresh soil taken from the hole is placed beneath the bushes, is an excellent plan, and may well be practised when the number of bushes devastated has been small. The earth may also be burnt and soon replaced—all the cocoons thus being destroyed. The earth should be removed to a depth of 3 or 4 inches, as the winter is passed by the pupe deeper in the earth than occurs during the summer. Where this plan has been employed it has met with success. In regard to the application of caustic substances to the soil, nothing answers better than gas lime, but it is very doubtful if it has much direct effect. Kainit has been employed with very doubtful results. Turning the soil over does little good, for the cocoons have to be very deeply buried to prevent the adults from forcing their way out of the earth. Benefit has resulted from the application of quicklime spread beneath the bushes and deeply dug in the autumn. A _ plan adopted by certain gardeners is to beat the earth under the bushes that have been attacked early in the spring, so as to make the soil too firm for the insects to pass through when they have hatched. Experiments made have not shown this plan to be of much use, for I found that even when the earth has been beaten much firmer than could be done under ordinary circumstances, the flies managed to force their way out. It is too early yet to speak with confidence of the effect of Insects, etc., Injurious to the Gooseberry. 277 bisulphide of carbon injected into the soil in autumn, but from the results I have obtained it seems that it is effectual in clearing this pest out. When the larve are noticed on the bushes they may be got rid of in two ways. First, by hand-piching, and, secondly, by spraying. A great deal of loss may be saved if the small colonies of NV. ribesit are picked off early in the year. This should be done when we see the leaves every here and there looking as if riddled with fine shot; at this time all the larve are collected together and can then be easily taken and destroyed, either by being squashed up in the hand or by being placed in a pail of quicklime. Later, when they spread out over the bushes, hand-picking entails consider- able trouble. When the larvee of WN. ribesit have once spread out, or when the more erratic larvae of NW. consobrinws and other species occur, washing or spraying, to poison the larve, is the most advan- tageous treatment. Two poisons may be used for the sawfly grubs, (1) hellebore and (2) arsenates. The only objection to either is that they are poisons. But no cases of poisoning have ever occurred, aud both have been frequently used, not only in America but also in this country. They must not be used on fruit that is ripening, or on green gooseberries that are going to be picked, for four weeks previous to gathering. Hedlebore may be used either as a powder or as a spray; the latter is the best means of applying it. It should be mixed at the rate of one ounce of powdered hellebore to two gallons of soft water, a small quantity of soft soap being added. The hellebore powder must be quite fresh, as it soon loses its potent factors. The wash should be kept well mixed and applied in a mode- rately fine spray. By far the best way of coping with this pest is spraying with arsenate of lead, especially Swift’s Paste, which clings to the foliage a long time. Strong lime-water has also been used and found serviceable, put on in as fine a spray as possible, but it has to be applied more than once to have much effect. Mr. Bear of Magham Down, Hail- sham, writes that he can kill the larve with soft soap and quassia, Later results by Pickering have shown that we may use weak paraffin emulsions to kill the larve, and in the case of late attacks this is advisable. 278 Insect Pests. THE GOOSEBERRY RED SPIDER. (Bryobia nobilis, Th., or B. ribis, Thomas.) Throughout all the chief gooseberry centres the Red Spider is quite the worst pest that growers have to contend with. It is abundant some years much more than others, but the exact factors [PL Rdenden, FIG. T9U,—NORMAL GOOSEBERRY SHOOT (ON RIGHT) AND SHOOT ATRACKED BY RED SPIDER (ON THR LEE?) Insects, etc., Injurious to the Gooseberry. 279 which govern the rapid increase of this acarus are not known. It is generally said that heat and drought are responsible, but when one goes over a number of statistics and meteorological records this does not appear to be the case. The mites certainly feed more and are more noticeable in warm sunny dry weather, and the bushes are not so hardy, but there does not seem to be any excessive reproduction from those causes. Some of the worst attacks I remember have been after warm damp weather. The Red Spider is, of course, not an insect, it belongs to the eight-legged group of “jointed limbed animals,” and to that section called Acarina., The young of these Red Spiders are very like the adult, but have only six legs, as we find in the insects. They are oviparous, anil the eggs (Fig. 192) are small globular bodies, very similar to those of the Hop Red Spider (Zetranychus malvw); but on their smooth shell are a few white fibres. The damage done by the mites is by their constantly sucking the sap from the leaves. The appearance produced is very marked, the larger leaves become marbled grey, sometimes almost silvery; the young leaves are stunted in bad attacks and present the appearance shown in the photograph reproduced here, The result is that the leaves and blossoms and even young fruitlets fall off. This pest is well known in Cambridgeshire, Worcestershire, Devon, Cornwall, Gloucestershire, Kent, Surrey, Sussex, Middlesex, and extends up into Scotland. We may say practically wherever goose- berries are grown the Red Spider is found. It has been described in various ways, some calling it Tetranychus telarius, one of the web spinning mites, others stating it is the same as the Red Spider on ivy, and calling it Bryobia pretiosa (2). Ormerod, quoting Harker, refers to this mite forming silken webbing “ covering the whole of the ivy for quite one or two hundred yards,” etc. If this is the same species as she refers to on ivy in other places, it has nothing to do with the Red Spider of the gooseberry, for it does not form a web. Although Michael says (2) that it “swarms in millions on the ivy in gardens,” we venture to doubt, under the circumstances, that they are the same acarus. The mite on ivy does not agree with the common gooseberry pest, which is apparently Bryobia nobilis, the same as the Bryobia ribis, Thomas.* * A recent examination made of the ivy Bryobia (B. pretiosa) shows hairs of broad white structure in all stages of the mite. The Red Spider of gooseberries has only simple hairs in all its stages, so that the two can be easily separated. 280 Insect Pests. LirEe-History AND Hasirts. This acarus belones to the genus #ryohia, which is easily told from the Red Spider of plums, hops, ete., Zetranychus, by the first pair of lees being much longer than the rest, and all the legs longer than in Letranychus. In colour this mite is very variable: some are erey, others greenish, others rusty red; some have red and brown coloration, yet others leaden erey or bright red; the legs are pale or dull reddish. In size, large mature specimens may reach nearly =|, inch. They collect in dull weather in early spring in crevices on the wood or under the loosened skin upon it. So densely are they often packed together that they look like one red mass, their lees tucked under their bodies. 4 T have noticed that in this stage they are frequently of a rich red hue, almost crimson- \ / lake. I have found them like this early in February, both in Kent and Cambridgeshire, ina semi-dormant condition. As soon as the young leaves show they are ready to move, the first warm sunny day they get on to the leaves and commence to feed and gradually mature, At night they return to their shelter, (FB. and also on dull damp days. They feed FIG. 19L— THe Ivy RED mainly on the undersides of the leaves. and SPIDER (Lryobia pretiosa), ‘ % 7 ferent ceniatsed’s the attack usually seems to start in the centre of the bushes and spreads outwards. In April or even March they may have started to reproduce, when minute round globular shiny reddish egos are laid on the twigs, base ot the thorns, and on and between the old bud seales. These eo which can only be seen with a magnifving class unless laid in large masses, hatch in four or five days into small semi-transparent young with six legs, these soon commence to feed, in another four days moult and become like the adult: two more moults appear to take place, aud then at the end of twelve to fourteen days they are ready to reproduce again, , What happens between June and the following February is not definitely known, but one may find the ova and immature mites on the wood at Christmas, and it is probable that most of the eggs laid in June remain until the winter, and that a few only hateh out before Felnmary and Mareh and hibernate on the bushes. What reeulates gs, Insects, etc., Injurious to the Gooseberry. 281 their increase, their equally sudden disappearance, even in warin weather, are subjects about which much further investigation is necessary, PREVENTION AND TREATMENT, The recognised treatment for the Red Spiders has been some form of sulphur wash. Liver of sulphur has proved the most convenient form. It has, however, been found of no avail in certain years. For instance, in 1907, — little good was done by spraying with this acaricide. The other acaricide found to work when sulphur fails is parattin emulsion, and the best results have been obtained with paraffin jelly. Considerable success has also attended the use of nicotine washes, which I found by far the most suecessful of all in 1907. The question of preventing the attack is one which growers naturally are most eoneerned with. We know that the immature acari shelter in the crevices, ete, of the wood in Feb- ruary and March, | pre. 192.—nooserrnny rep sPrpEr and at this time Se ore a heavy spraying would he sure to kill very many. Mr. John Riley of Putley Court, Ledbury, wrote me in 1902 that he had found ereat benefit from spraying with caustie alkali wash, and it 1s quite possible that this treatment in late winter kills the young acari. Washing, in any case, in late February cammot fail to kill large numbers, and then fairly strong paraffin emulsion may he used ; up toas much as five gallons of paraffin to 100 gallons of wash has been found to cdo no harm. Where attack only makes itself notice- able in April or May then we must spray with either the liver of sulphur or the paraffin jelly, and it may be pointed out that to be of FTG. 193. —EMPTY EGG-SHELLS OF RED SPIDE (Greatly enlarged.) 282 Insect Pests. full value the bushes should be sprayed twice at an interval of about ten days, so as to kill any young which may have escaped from the later eggs. The paraffin jelly mentioned may be made as follows :— Parafiin, 5 gallons; soft soap, 8 Ibs. ; boil together, and when boiling add about one pint of water, and then well sti. This becomes a jelly when cold, and 10 to 11 Ibs. of which are added to 40 gallons of water. The above amounts make about 160 gallons of wash. This formula, used by Mr. Ballard of Pinvin, will be found quite one of the best for this purpose, and also kills the Brown Scale at the same time. SLUGS (Agriolimax agrestis, Linn.) DAMAGING GOOSE- BERRIES. Some three or four years ago, Mr. John Riley wrote regarding the damage to young gooseberries by slugs, but as he was unable to have any caught, the exact cause remained in doubt until 1906, paneel ea eV¥ PL Edenden FIG. 14,—A, GOOSEBERRY BLOSSOMS EATEN BY SLUGS > Bo NORMAL BLOSSOMS. Slugs have since been found to eat the base of the calyx, and then go on to another gooseberry ; the gooseberries thus attacked die and fall off (Fig. 194). Mr. Riley’s manager, visiting Evesham, found that in one garden the whole of the crop was destroyed, seareely a wooseberry. being unbitten. This attack in that neighbourhood had been put down to frost. May. Riley says: “We hada very bad attack on two or three Insects, etc., Injurious to the Gooseberry. 283 acres close to where it was first, and they were heavily washed with Little’s fluid sheep-dip; they do not appear to have suffered from it; it was used strong (one to seventy).’ Later information sent showed that this damage was undoubtedly due to slugs, Mr. Riley stating that “careful examination at night revealed the fact that slugs were the culprits. We have caught them red-handed. In order to make climbing easy for them, we cut off branches of the gooseberries, and stuck them in the ground at night. Several slugs were soon seen eating the calyces, as described, and they were found in quantity under most bushes at night. Had we no foxes, I should try 500 ducks to clear them off.” A similar attack was reported in 1907 from near Canterbury, and slugs were cauglit eating the calyces at night at Wye in the same year. There is no doubt that the employment of ducks is one of the best ways of ridding a plantation of such pests. It would be quite possible, even with foxes present, to use them during wet weather in daytime, when the slugs would be on the move, This has been done in cases of slug attack in hop gardens with good results. There does not seem to have been any previous notice of these mollusca doing harm in this way. The attacked blossoms sent showed very characteristic signs of damage ; the eating away of the base of the calyx causes shrivelling, which might be mistaken for frost-bite if not examined, but the work of the slug can easily be detected if looked for. The calyx itself in many cases, as seen in the figure, is eaten and turns brown. Sparrows have been accused of doing this, but their work can at once be detected by the debris of calyces found on the ground beneath the bushes. IT have found vaporite very successful in destroying slugs. LOGANBERRY. List OF INSEOTS INJURIOUS TO THE LOGANBERRY. A. COLEOPTERA. Rasprerry Beerie (Byturus tomentosus. Fab.). Fruit and Blossom- buds, p. 420. CLay CoLtourED WEEVIL (Otiorhynchus picipes. VFab.). Foliage and Shoots, p. 425. B. DIPTERA. Davpy Lone Lees (Tipulu oleracea. Linn.). Roots and tips. C. LEPIDOPTERA. Heart anp Dart Mors (Agrotis exclamationis. Linn.). Roots, p. 450. Note.—The above are, so far, the only insects referred to me or recorded as attacking this valuable fruit. Probably all our Raspberry insects will invade it. The Raspberry Beetle is the most important, and does far more harm than it does on the Raspberry. The Clay Coloured Weevil has been found harmful in the Cheddar district, the Leather Jackets in Worcester, and the Heart and Dart Moth I found on the roots in Kent. NUTS. COB AND FILBERT, SPANISH CHESTNUT AND WALNUT. U LIST OF INSECTS, ETC., INJURIOUS TO NUTS. I.—To Cob anp FILBert. . LEPIDOPTERA. Winter Mors (Chetmatobia brumata. Linn.). Foliage, p. 50. MorrLep Umper Mora (Hybernia defoliaria. Clerck.). Foliage, p. 58. Burr-Tip Mors (Phalera bucephala. Linn.). Foliage, p. 292. Not-Lear Buister Mors (Lithocolletis coryli. Nicelli). Foliage, p. 297. . COLEOPTERA. Nour Weevit (Balaninus nucus. Linn.). Fruit, p. 299. Lear Weevits (Phyllobius sp.). Foliage, p. 119. Nor Lear Wervin (Strophosomus coryli. Fab.). Foliage, p. 302. . HYMENOPTERA. Nor Sawrty (Cresus septentrionalis. Linn.). Foliage, p. 303. . DIPTERA. CarKin Mipex (Cecidomyia coryli, Walt.). Male Catkins, p. 306. . HEMIPTERA. Tue Nur Apuis (Stphonophora avellane. Linn.). Foliage and Shoots. Tue Cuckoo Sprit Insect (Philenus spwmarius. Linn.). Shoots, p. 200. Lear Hopper (Chlorita viridula. Fall.). Leafage, p. 392. . ACARI. Tue Nur Bup Mire (Hriophyes avellanw. Nalepa). Buds, p. 307. IL—To SpaNIsH CHESTNUT. . LEPIDOPTERA. Gotp Tar Mors (Porthesia similis. Fues.). Foliage, p. 27. Suny Curmney Swere (Fumea intermediella. TBrd.). Foliage. Green Oak Tortrix (Tortriz viridana. Linn.). Foliage. Tae Nur Fruir Tortrix (Carpocapsa splendidana, Hb.). Fruit, p. 809. Brown Oak Case-Brearer (Coleophora lutipennella, Zell.). Foliage. . COLEOPTERA. Tue Lear Box Bretie (Attelabius cuculionides. Linn.). Foliage, p. all. u 2 292 Insect Pests. JII.—To Wa.nvrt. A. LEPIDOPTERA. Winter Mors (Cheimatobia brumata, Linn.). Foliage, p. 50. Woop Leorarp (Zeuzera pyrina. Linn.). Wood, p. 46. VapourER Mors (Orygia antiqua. Linn.). Foliage, p. 38. Tue Nour Frurr Torrrix (Carpocapsa splendidana. Hb.). Fruit, p. 809. ; Copiinc Mots (Carpocapsa pomonelia. Linn.). Fruit, p. 69. B. HEMIPTERA. Tur Dusky-VEINED Watnut Louse (Ptychodes juglandis. Frisch). Foliage, p. 318. Tur Common Watnout Louse (Pterocallis juglandicola. Kalt.). Foliage, p. 816. C. ACARI. Tur Watnut Lear Gaty Mite (Eriophyes triseriatus v. erinea. Nalepa). Foliage, p. 318. I—TO COB AND FILBERT. THE BUFF-TIP MOTH. (Phalera bucephala. Stephens.) Inquiries have frequently been made during the autumn months concerning the larve of the Buff-tip Moth (Phalera bucephaila). These caterpillars very frequently occasion a great deal of harm to the leafage of the elm, lime, beech, birch, nut, sallow, rose and oak. Fruit trees are also sometimes attacked. Frequent reports come to hand of their ravages on rose, elm and lime trees in and around London, and also in nut plantations in Kent. Mr. F. Smith of Loddington finds them in his nut plantations and Mr. Buley of Woodnesborough found them attacking cobs and filberts. In the same year I found them defoliating cobs at Wye and they were also reported from 8. Devon and elsewhere. Recently they have been causing some alarm in cherry orchards (1). Mr. Lewis Levy wrote in 1906 from Borden Hall, Sittingbourne, in August, saying: “We have had several cherry trees whose leaves have been almost devoured by the caterpillars. Over one hundred, I should say, on one tree.” The moth (Fig. 195) is common and very generally distributed over Great Britain and generally attracts attention on account of its peculiar and beautiful appearance, whilst the large size of the caterpillars, and the havoc they cause, render them particularly conspicuous objects. The eggs are also often sent with inquiries as to their nature, Insects, etc., Injurious to Nuts. 293 [B. Tonge, FIG, 195.—MALE AND FEMALE BUFF-TIP MOTHS, (Natural size.) [E. Tonge. FIG, 196.—EGGS OF BUFF-TIP MOTH. (X 20.) 294. Insect Pests. Lire-History. The moth usually makes its appearance in June and continues until July, specimens having been sent as late as the 27th of July in - [F. Edenden. FIG. 197.—IMMATURE LARV.EB OF BUFF-TIP ON HAZEL. 1886, and the 25th in 1888. These are two of the latest dates I have of its capture. The earliest is the 2nd of June, In Germany, according to Kollar (2), it oceurs as early as May. ‘The moth measures from Insects, etc., Injurious to Nuts. 295 25 inches to 24 inches across the expanded wines. The fore wines are ashy grey, silvery grey at the base and inner edge; there are two trans- verse streaks of dark brown and reddish- brown, one near the base and the other towards the apex of the wings, a pale spot towards the middle, and a large pale ochreous or buff spot at. the tip of each wing; the hind wines are plain yellowish - white; the head is yellowish, densely sealed; the thorax with dense yellow scales, bounded behind with two rusty-brown lines, somewhat raised up into a tuft; the abdomen pale ochreous to bull; the female has simple, the male crenulated antenne. Miss Ormerod (3) states that the eges are usually laid on the upper surface of the leaves. I have never seen them so placed, but on the wader surface or on the shoots. They are rounded and very convex above, flat beneath, the upper part is pearly white, with a median dark spot, the lower part bright green, the latter forming a distinct green basal band ; they are rather large objects, and are firmly [A. 1. D. Rintoul. FIG. 198.—BUFF-TIP MOTHS AT REST clued to the leaf and darken somewhat AND OVA (A). before the Jarvie escape, which usually takes place between ten and fourteen days after they have been laid. They are laid in groups of from twenty to seventy. The larvie (Figs. 197 and 199) are gregarious and reach 2 inches when mature. The ground colour is dark yellow, a broad black line runs down the dorsum, and on each side are three black lines which are [Ff Bdenden, interrupted by yellow or orange FIG. 199.—LARVS OF BUFI-TIY MOTH. transverse rings on the seo- ments; head dark brown; and numerous fine hairs are dotted over the whole body. The first moult takes place about ten days after the larve have hatched out. At 296 Insect Pests. first the whole batch of larvee feed together, but later they separate into smaller groups of from ten to twenty. When young and feeding all together they skeletonise a leaf or two in very conspicuous manner, but when they are larger they disperse over the leaves. When at rest they lie close together, usually on the upper surface of the leaf, lying parallel with one another. They are mostly mature by the middle of September, but I have had them sent as late as October. When full fed they fall or crawl to the ground and pupate under the soil. The pupa (Fig. 200) is not encased in any cocoon or even cell of earth. It is deep brown, thick, about 1 inch in length, smooth with two spines at the apex. Sometimes they lie under fallen leaves, but generally beneath the soil, where they remain all the winter and hatch out in May, June and July (4). REMEDIES. Where arsenical spraying cannot be carried out, the larve may he destroyed by shaking the trees. At the least jar they fall down to the cround, and can then be trodden on Bede Rphraa PRG BUR EITE MOTD and so killed. Those that escape readily ascend the trees again, so that care must be taken to destroy them all. If many are present it would be as well to tie bands of hay round the trunks of the trees near, especially around the infested one, and to smear the bands with tar so as to prevent the larve ascending again, but when there is no herbage beneath the trees they can all easily be killed, so that banding is not necessary. Whenever the groups of young larve are seen, the leaf should be picked off at once and destroyed, before they spread into smaller companies. Spraying with any arsenical washes would poison the larve, and for this purpose the arsenate of lead wash may be used on cherries and nuts. REFERENCES. (1) Theobald, F. V. Report on Economic Zoology for the year ending April Ist, 1907, p. 44 (1907). (2) Kollar, V. ‘A Treatise on Insects Injurious to Gardeners, Foresters and Farmers.’ (Trans. J. and M. Loudon), p. 821 (1840). (3) Ormerod, EH. A. ‘Manual of Injurious Insects,’ p. 227, 2nd ed. (1890). (4) Theobald, F. V. Report on Economic Zoology for the year ending April 1st, 1906, p. 45 (1906). Insects, etc., Injurious to Nuts. 297 THE NUT-LEAF BLISTER MOTH. (Lithocotletis coryli, Nicelli.) Nut leaves, both wild and cultivated, are often seen to be marked with large pale blisters, ranging up to nearly } inch in width. These blisters are sometimes roundish, at others rather elongate. ‘They are caused by a small leaf- mining moth caterpillar, known as Lithocolletis coryli, These mines occur on the upper sides of the leaves. Another species, Lithocolletis niccllii, occurs on the lower sides, but I am not sure if this species occurs in Britain. During the late sum- mer of 1906 the nut leaf miner seems to have been abnormally abundant, both in the hedgerows on hazel and amongst cul- tivated cobs and _ filberts in many parts of Britain. The damage done to the leaves, especially in young plantations, must — have been severe, checking FIG. 201.—NUT LEAVES MINED BY eee the further growth and BLISTER MOTH LARV.E. development of the shoots. In this country it is common in Devonshire, Somersetshire, Gloucestershire, Surrey, Kent, Cheshire, and las occurred in various parts of Yorkshire (Stainton recording York, Scarborough, and Stockton-on-Tees), the last-named authority also gives the Cumberland Lake district, and Cockburnspath in Berwickshire. In 1906 it was very abundant in parts of Kent, some cobs being seen with all the leaves blistered, many having six or seven blisters on them. Badly attacked trees were seen in Devonshire, but I only noticed it in one place in Worcestershire and one in Herefordshire. 298 Insect. Pests. Lirr-Hisrory AND Hanrrs. The moth appears in May; in 1906 as early as the 12th of May at Wye, the year before not until the 27th. In size it varies from 7 to 8 mn. in wing expansion, The anterior wings are pale ochreous brown, with a snowy white basal streak, and on the inner margin a thin white streak much smaller than the above; towards the apex four white converging areas above and three below ; the hind wings are white with dusky base, and the long fringes are grey in the female, of a dull yellowish tinge in the male. The thorax is the same colour as the wines, with a median and lateral white stripes. fi The abdomen is grey, and the tuft pale ochreous. The legs are grey, with white tarsal segments spotted with fuscous. They lay their eggs on the leaf, choosing, it seems, a still, fine evening just before sunset. The larvie then burrow into the leaf, and feed upon the soft mesophyll and eat it out in a more or Jess rounded area, the upper epidermis being left intact, but quite separate from the rest of the leaf and showing quite white (I have never seen the ochreous central area described by Stainton). Oceasionally, when the mine is near a mid rib or the edge of the leaf, the leaf becomes much puckered and folded. In this blister the larve may be found up to the beginning of July. When mature the larva reaches about 45 mm. in length. It is pale yellowish-green, the first three segments more vellowiali and the eighth with a somewhat obscure Bias eon spot ; the last two segments are yellowish. The head pale brown, with dark brown markings ; when retracted the lobes show through the first segment as two brown spots. Legs very pale. UTorace Knight. FIG, 202. —NUT-LEAF BLISTER MOTH (Lithocolletis coryli). This larva, when quite young, lies in a curved position, but as it reaches maturity it straightens out. It can generally be seen in the mine at work by holding the leaf up to a strong light. Some dusky spots are noticeable beneath in the young larva, but they soon disappear. , ; Pupation takes place in the blister, and by the first or second Insects, etc., Injurious to Nuts. 299 week in August a second brood of moths appear. These soon pair, and lay their eges as before. If circumstances are favourable, a great many eggs are laid, and the result, as we saw in 1906, is that the leaves become covered with blisters in September. This second brood of larvee reach maturity in early October. They then pupate as before, and the moths hatch out and hibernate. At least, this is what is apparent, for they have not been observed in any other condition during the winter. T have failed to find any winter pupe in the leaves, and yet all the larvee pupated there. Those kept hatched out, and none could be found in the leaves naturally. Unless [am much mistaken this is the normal way of wintering, and thus we have another reason for separating this nut species from Lithocolletis carpinicolella, which is found in the pupal stage in the dead leaves of the hornbeam, which hang so readily on to the trees during winter. The adult of L. carpinicoiclla is, however, very like Z. coryli. TREATMENT. This is very difficult, but I found a heavy spraying with arsenate of lead used for Nut Weevil kept the trees clear of the first brood, but that the second brood invaded the same trees from some old cobs and filberts standing close by. A heavy spraying of arsenate of lead is undoubtedly good for nuts if used in May; at this time the Winter Moth, Nut Weevil, Leaf Weevils, and these Miners can all be attacked by it, and as it holds on to the leaf well, later comers, such as the Croesus Sawfly and the Buff-tip Moth, are also to some extent destroyed. THE NUT WEEVIL. (Balaninus nucus. Linn.) This weevil is the parent of the maggot so frequently seen in nuts. It is found in the filbert and cob and also in the wild hazel nuts. Kaltenbach (3) refers to it on the oak. The filbert seems to suffer from it more than the cob, but growers in Kent report it doing harm to the latter. The damage is done by the maggots feeding in the kernel and causing the nuts to fall prematurely, and also by spoiling the samples owing to the repulsive appearance of the maggot found on cracking the nuts. It occurs fairly widely over Britain where the hazel is abundant, 300 Insect Pests. butit is in Kent that it is most harmful to cultivated nuts, owing, of course, to that county being such a large producer. It is common also in France, where it often does much harm to the noisettes (1). Taschenberg (2) refers to it in Germany, and also Kaltenbach (5). LirE-History AND Hasits. This weevil can readily be told by its long curved snout; in length it is about 1 inch; the colour is tawny-brown to chocolate-brown, a} (A. TD. Rintoul. FIG. 203.—THE NUT WEEVIL (Balaninus nucus) AND DAMAGED NUTS. densely clothed with golden brown pubescence, which becomes greyish as the beetle gets old; the wing cases have rows of dots, the thorax and proboscis are chestnut to tawny-brown, and the elbowed antenne are very similar in colour. Like other weevils, the biting mouth is situated at the tip of the proboscis. The time of appearance, as far as personal observations go, is June, the dates varying during the last fifteen years between the 10th of June and the 25th of June. Ormerod says they “may be found as early as May.” Whitehead mentions “about the beginning of July ” (1), and again Ormerod says “it is stated that some of these beetles do not develop till July or August.” I have been unable to find any fresh beetles in Kent as late as July, but the weevils live on well into that month. They can live for six or eight weeks in confinement, but such appears to be unusual. Insects, etc., Injurious to Nuts. 301 Both males and females fly, especially in warm bright weather, and alight on the bushes with considerable force. They do not take wing when frightened, but fall to the ground. It is strange how difficult they are to see when on the bushes, and one is frequently surprised to find numbers falling down when the bushes are shaken. The female bores a hole in the young nut with her rostrum, and then deposits a single egg in the hole. Sometimes this hole is made through the calyx and soft shell, at others the calyx is not pierced. The female is said to push the egg deep into the nut with her snout and then proceed to deposit another in a fresh nut. The egg hatches in eight or ten days. The larva—the so-called nut maggot—feeds on the kernel, which it tunnels or grooves out on one side, and its moist “frass” may hasten decay, but not until the maggot is mature. In form it is much like the larva of other weevils, but it is very soft, pale creamy white, fat and curved at the tail end, slightly hairy and has a quite hard brown head. In length it is rather more than 4 inch. When mature it eats its way out of the nut, boring a small round hole in the hard shell. It is an interesting sight seeing the maggot escape, gradually squeezing itself through the hole which is so much smaller than its body. It finally falls to the ground, or, if the nut has fallen, escapes into the soil direct. It then forms a cell in the earth where it remains in the maggot stage all the winter, pupating in the early spring. The pupa is creamy white. From this the weevil escapes and feeds upon the leafage until the nuts are ready to receive the eggs. It has been suggested that those weevils which are seen in July and even August, and which are thought not to have hatched until then, may possibly hibernate (4) and appear with those that emerge from the pupz in June. PREVENTION. The beetle may be collected in numbers by jarring the bushes over tarred sacks or boards. There is no doubt that this plan can be followed with success. Stirring the soil in winter is sure to damage many of the soft maggots and pup and expose others to the attack of birds. Observa- tions have been made which show that good cultivation under the nuts is very necessary as a preventive measure. Mr. Fred Smith of Loddington informs me that he finds that where he sprays his nuts with arsenate of lead for Winter Moth that 302 Insect Pests. the Nut Weevils are killed at the same time. This I tried at home with complete success. NavruraL ENEMIES. Whitehead (1) refers to the good done by Tits, and describes the Great and Blue Tits hunting for the beetles. No definite obser- vations have been imade, and this statement must be taken with caution. REFERENCES. (1) Whitehead, Sir C. ‘Insects Injurious to Fruit Crops, p. 25 (1886). (2) Taschenberg, E.G. ‘Tasekten-kunde. Die Kafer und Hautfliigler,’ p. 147 (1879). (8) Kaltenbach, J. H. ‘Die Pflanzenfeinde aus der Klasse-Insekten,’ p. 633 and p. 647 (1874). (4) Ormerod, E. A. ‘Handbook of Insects Injurious to Orchard and Bush Fruits,’ p. 116 (1898). THE NUT LEAF WEEVIL. (Strophosonis coryli, abr.) This insect is referred to ly Ormerod (1), but I am not aware that it does any harm to nuts in this country. No growers I have consulted know anything of it, nor have I seen it on any cultivated nuts. Miss Ormerod’s notes appear to have been mainly culled from Taschenberg (2), Kaltenbach (3) and Stephens (4). Tt is quite a widely distributed insect in this country, according to Canon Fowler (5). It is also referred to ———— in Schlich’s ‘Manual of Forestry’ by Fisher (6). er SCG Kaltenbach refers to it as “an injurious weevil, EER appearing in the spring for the most part, in great num- j bers, and enaws the leaves of hazels,” ete. (p. 590) (3). Taschenberg (p. 103) says: “The beetle appears in many years in great numbers, not only on hazels, as might be inferred from its scientific name, but also on Iireh, oak, beech, Scotch fir and pine, where from May till June they feed on the buds and leaves and the bark of the young shoots, and in some localities have destroyed young trees of the above mentioned kinds.” Ormerod received them in great numbers from Great Brington, Northampton, where they with other beetles were doing ereat damave in 1889 to conifers. The beetle is quite small, barely 1 inch in leneth, black in eolour, with grey and brown scales, dull red lees and antenne: the elytra Insects, etc., Injurious to Nuts. 303 with lines of minute punctures and rows of bristles between them and a black stripe at the base of the suture of the wing cases. There are no wings. It is important to note this insect, as in some parts it might invade our plantations from the wild hazels growing near. REFERENCES. (1) Ormerod, E. A. ‘Handbook of Insects Injurious to Orchard and Bush Fruits,’ p. 118 (1898). (2) Taschenberg, H. L. ‘Praktische Insekten-kunde,’ IT., p. 103 (1879). (8) Kaltenbach, J. H. ‘ Die Pflanzenfeinde,’ p. 590 (1874). (4) Stephens, J. F. ‘Manual of British Insects,’ p. 245 (1889). (5) Fowler, Canon. ‘ British Coleoptera,’ vol. V., p. 189 (1891). (6) Schlich (Fisher). *A Manual of Forestry,’ vol. V., p. 194 (1895). A SAWFLY (Cresus septentrionalis, Linn.) ATTACKING COB NUTS. The large larvee of this sawfly may often be noticed in nut plantations and in gardens. Mz. G. H. Buley of Woodnesborough sent on the 7th of August, 1905, a number of sawfly larvae, which he said he had noticed “ravenously devouring the foliage of cob nuts; about ten of them had completely stripped several boughs, and if they should increase, I fear they will destroy the lot.” They proved to be Cresus septentrionalis of Linneus. The same species was found doing considerable damage near Maidstone in 1904, and was also observed at Kingston-on-Thames in 1889, where it attacked filberts until they were completely defoliated. The larvee are subject to a very large number of parasites, and it is probably on this account that it so seldom occurs for two or more years in succession. At times, however, it is very injurious, and attacks nuts of all ages. Besides cob, filbert and hazel nuts, it feeds upon birch, aspen, poplars, willow, osier and the mountain ash. Stephens records it from the gooseberry, which was considered doubtful by Cameron. They very frequently do so, especially when gooseberries are grown beneath untrained cobs or filberts, as in gardens. SyNONOMY. This insect has been referred to under the following generic and specific names :—Tenthredo septentrionalis, Linn. ; Tenthredo largupes, 304 Insect Pests. Retz. Nematus septentrionalis, Olivier ; Nematus laticrux, Villaret ; Ze Cresus septentrionalis, Leach ; Cresus laticrux, Stephens. Lire-History AND HABITS. The sawfly appears in May and June, usually at the beginning of the latter month. It varies in length from a little less to slightly more than 4 inch. In colour it is black, shiny and covered with dense pubescence ; the FIG. 204A.—THE NUT SAWFLY (Crasus septentrionalis. Linn.). A, adult; B, larvie. abdomen has the two basal and two or three apical segments black, the rest brick-dust red. The legs are peculiar, the posterior pair being long, the apex of the tibie being dilated, flattened and hollowed on the inner side, metatarsus also dilated and flattened on the upper side (which is curved), and the metatarsus is much longer than all the other segments put together; the second segment is as lone as the two succeeding. In colour the legs are black, the coxw and trochanters white, also the base of the hind femora, anterior tibize and tarsi, and half the posterior tibie mainly white; the apex of .the anterior femora brown beneath, anterior tibie and tarsi reddish at the apex, base of mid tarsi reddish. The male differs from the female in having the femora red, the apex of the posterior femora black above; mouth and teeule reddish. The femora are often jet black. Wings hyaline, but coloured on part Insects, etc., Injurious to Nuts. 305 of the surface and on the apex. The eggs are laid in small slits in the veins of the leaf. The larvee are found in Jnly and August (and according to Cameron to the end of September). The latter statement undoubtedly applies to two broods. When first hatched they are semi-transparent, and become greenish with brown head. In ten days the larvee -vere found to have moulted, and then they became pale yellowish-green, with the anal segment dull yellow, and two dusky stripes on the sides. When mature the larva is greenish-blue, and the second and anal segments bright yellow ; over each spiracle, which is dark, is a dusky spot; below each spiracle, one large and two small dark spots, and over the legs four black spots and some lines. The cerci are black, and on the anal segment is a black spot of rough triangular shape. The legs are greenish-grey with brown apices, and the prolegs pale green. On the venter of the fifth, seventh, eighth and ninth segments is a large yellowish gland, and a smaller one on the fourth and tenth, which can be protruded at will. The larve feed in groups of three to ten, usually in a row near or on the edye of a leaf, and hold on by their true legs, the body being turned into all manner of shapes and freely swung over the attached portion. When mature they fall to the ground and spin a brown cocoon of a long form, and somewhat parchment-like formation, and then they pupate. From these pupee a second brood appears in August, and lay their eggs just as the first. The imagines have been seen as early as the 2nd of August. The larvee of the second brood all remain in the larval state during the winter and pupate in the spring. Mr. Buley has definitely traced two broods (2). The second Lrood went to earth in September. NATURAL ENEMIES. Numerous Ichneumon and other parasites attack this sawfly. None have been bred from specimens collected in Kent, Surrey or Cambridgeshire. Cameron gives the following list : Tryphon gibbus, Ratz.; Mesolvius melancholicus, G.; M. septentrionalis, Ratz.; I. sex- lituratus, Grav.; Polysphinctus areolaris, Ratz. ; Mesoleptus testaccus, Gr.; Pimpla angeus, Gr.; Ichneutes reunior, Nees; and Microsyaster alvearius, Spin. (GJEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. In Britain I have found or received larve from Hereford, Warwickshire, Kent, Surrey, Middlesex, Hampshire, Devon and Somerset. x 306 Insect Pests. ; ae F Abroad it oceurs in all the northern European States, Germany, France and Italy. TREATMENT. Spraying with hellebore wash or arsenical wash when the larve are abundant is certainly advisable in nut plantations when the young larve are at first seen, as they cause great havoc, and the parasites mentioned above do not do any good until all the damage is done. REFERENCES. (1) Theobald, F. V. Report on Economic Zoology for year ending April 1st, 1906, p. 42 (1906). . (2) Theobald, F. V. Report on Eeonomic Zoology for the year ending April 1st, 1907, p. 60 (1907). (3) Cameron, P. ‘A Monograph of British Phytophagous Hymenoptera,’ vol. II., p. 35 (1885). THE NUT CATKIN MIDGE. (Ceeidomyia coryli. Kalt.) The male catkins of the filbert, cob and hazel nuts are often attacked by the small maggots of one of the gall-flies or Ceci- domyide., The mature insect I have been unable to breed so far, nor do I know of any description of it. It is not recorded by Verrall (1), yet it is widely distributed, being very abundant in Kent, Sussex, Middlesex, and I have found it in Here- fordshire and Devon. The damage done by it does not appear to be generally very serious, but Mr. Hammond of Canterbury wrote me in 1899 that it was so abundant in that part of Kent that it could be found on every nut tree in laree numbers. Weitenweber (2) and Kaltenbach (3) refer to it in Germany. (W. HH. Hammond, FIG. 205.—MALF CATKINCOF NUT ReFERENCES. ATTACKED BY CECID LARV.E. (1) Verrall, G. H. ‘List of British Diptera ’ (2nd ed.), p. 7 (1901). (2) Wetlenweber, ‘ Lotos,’ p. 143 (1868), (8) Kaltenbach, J, H. ‘Ptlanzenfeinde,’ p. 637 (1874). Insects, etc., Injurious to Nuts. 307 THE NUT BUD MITE. (Kriophyes avellanee, Walepa.) This mite was first observed by Dujardin(3) in 1851. Until the last few years but little importance has been attached to this acarus, wlich is a mite closely related to, but quite distinet from, the Bie Bud Mite of the black currant. Normally its host is the hazel, but for some years it has been noticed on filberts and more recently it has infested the cob nut. Mr. William Bear of Hailsham wrote in 1900 that 1t was becoming serious on lis nuts. Mr. F. Smith eh of Loddington informs me it occurs on both lis cobs and filberts, but does not seem to cause much harm. In my own garden a row of cobs and filberts grow adjoining a copse with many hazels. The latter are badly infested with this mite, but it has never taken to either of the former, although they even inter- lace with the hazels. It is, however, undoubtedly spreading more on to the cultivated kinds. The effect on nuts is much the same as that produced on the black eurrant. The buds swell in a very similar way, and either shrivel up FIG. 206.—CURRANY GALL MITE. 7 : C are witl t species to see difference and die or they produce mere bushy, Beh eye een acy) es Oe deformed foliave. (Ayter Nalepa.) There is no possible connection between this mite and the one infestine currants. The species are quite distinct, as shown by Nalepa. Nor will the Nut Mite infest curants. Experiments carried out in this direction have failed in every case. Lirk-Hisvory. The mites live much as do those on the currant. The swollen buds may be found in winter, but they do not become prominent ae 308 Insect Pests. until the spring. They are more flared out at the sides than those caused by Eriophycs ribis. Ormerod describes the galled buds (1) as drying up and falling off. I have never yet seen this; old buds of the preceding year are of common occurrence on the nut. The mite is about 0°21 mm. in length in the female, 0°18 mm. in the male. The females lay their eggs in the buds in the same way as the currant species does, and as the old buds decay they migrate to others. In July and Aueust a second growth becomes prominent, easily noticed by their size and often bright colouring. The eggs I have found from March until October, more have been detected in the winter. Nalepa’s figure of the mite is reproduced here. The male is FIG. 207.—THE NUT BUD MITE much fatter and rather ene broader than the (Greatly enlarged.) female ; in colour they are very similar to the Big Bud Mite. On the back are two short bristles towards the head, followed by two long ones close to them; then are seen two long and two small candal sete ; ventrally are three pairs of short set in both male and female. The ova are more hen’s eee shaped than those of £. rihis. Some people whose opinion is of no scientific or practical value have stated that this species and the one infesting the currant are the same, and that currants may become invaded by the Nut Mite. One has only to refer to the fleure of the FIG. 208.—THE NUT BUD MITE @. (After Nalepa.) (Greatly enlarged.) former to see the great difference so plainly noticeable in the bristles The leaf buds only are attacked at present as far as L know Insects, etc., Injurious to Nuts. 309 PREVENTION AND REMEDIES. It is well for those who intend planting up nuts to bear in mind that this pest is common in hazel copses and in hazels on hedgerows, and to avoid planting near the former, and where possible to remove all hazels in the hedgerows near their plantations. Starting with clean stock is very essential, as at present there is no known remedy for these bud mites. The lime and sulphur dusting having proved of little value for the currant, it is not likely to be of any more use in this case and more difficult to apply. All growers can do is to hand-pick the swollen buds, a much more difficult task than in the case of currants. REFERENCES. (1) Nalepa, Dr. A, ‘Beitrage zur Systematik der Phytopten,’ p. 126, Taf. IL. and Taf. ITI. Wien (1889). (2) Ormerod, H. A. ‘A Handbook of Insects Injurious to Orchard and Bush Fruits,’ p. 116 (1898). (3) Dujardin. ‘Annales des Société Naturale’ (1851). (4) Frauenfeld. ‘Verh. Zool. and Bot. Gesel in Wien,’ XV., 895. (5) Amerling, Dr. ‘ Lotos,’ p. 44 (1863). I—TO SPANISH CHESTNUT. THE NUT FRUIT TORTRIX. (Carpocapsa splendidana. Hb.) This moth, which is closely related to the Codling Moth, is by no means of common occurrence in this country, but it is fairly widely distributed in the south of England. Normally in this country the larva is said to feed on acorns. In 1890 I found it in some numbers at Ninfield, in Sussex, amongst Spanish chestnuts, and found later that it attacked the fruit (4). On two occasions in 1884 I noticed maggots in walnuts on the trees, but not until 1904 could I trace any appreciable damage done by them(1). The specimens were bred out and proved to be this insect beyond doubt. During the late autumn of the same year several samples of walnuts were sent me containing the same larve. At Interlaken, in the Bernese Oberland, I noticed a similar attack in 1889. In 1906 attention was called (2) to the numbers of the maggots of this moth introduced in Spanish chestnuts. Some were actually found crawling in the street of a Kentish village. 310 Insect Pests. The importation of this insect is certainly not wise, and growers who have chestnuts or walnuts should be very careful in keeping a look [Horace Knight. FIG. 209.—CHESTNUT AND ACORN MOTH (Carpocapsa splendidana). out for these insects in local stores, and try and get the infested stuff destroyed in some way, as at present it is not a pest in this country. Lire-Hisrory anp Hanrrs. The moth appears in June and July and lays its eges on the young fruit. In size it is from 4 to # inch across the wings. The fore wines A B [P. Edenden, FIG. 210.—SWEET CHESTNUTS ATTACKED BY MAGGOTS OF Carpocapsa splendidana, A, shows exit hole ; B, damaged interior, Insects, etc., Injurious to Nuts. 311 are whitish-grey, the basal patch grey, its outer edge angulated, streaks of grey along the costa, at the hind margin is a large blackish- brown area enclosing a silvery-edged ocellated patch, in which are thiee or four black longitudinal lines. In ten days the eggs hatch and the maggots enter the young fruit. The larve are pinkish-white, with the head and first segment brown and are about the size of the Codling Maggot, but not so fat. Specimens received from foreign Spanish chestnuts were all dirty yellowish-white, one only showing traces of pink. They leave the fruit, when mature, by a remarkably small hole, one larva under observation taking half an hour to escape. Pupation takes place in the same manner as is done by the Codling Moth. Larvie occur as late as the 31st of November, and in December in imported nuts. Observations made in 1894 showed that they crawl up the walnut trees, spin a dirty white silken cocoon, and pupate in the spring. Morris(3) says they pupate in a brown cocoon in moss. Cocoons are also found in rough grass beneath the trees, and some larvze remain in the nuts all the winter, leaving them in February. Should this moth become a serious nuisance in walnuts or chest- nuts the banding found so successful for Codling Moth might be adopted. The importation of this insect is a matter that must not be forgotten, and is certainly attended with some danger. REFERENCES. (1) Theobald, F. V. ‘Notes on Insect Pests in 1894,’ p. 21 (1895). (2) Theobald, F. V. Report on Economie Zoology for year ending April 1, 1907, p. 61 (1907). (8) Morris, F. O. ‘ British Moths,’ vol. II. (1872). (4) Theobald, F. V. The Animal Pests of Forest Trees, p. 31 (1904). THE LEAF BOX BEETLE. (Attelabius cuculionides. Linn.) This local yet widely distributed beetle is often very abundant in Europe. It is a weevil, which at times occasions not only much disfigurement to young oak trees, but also attacks the edible or Spanish chestnut in the same way. Fisher in Schlich(1) refers to it as locally common on oak and sweet chestnut, chiefly on undergrowth. The beetle appears in June. The female cuts and rolls the end of a Jeaf into a short, stout cylindrical box, which may be doubled 312 Insect Pests. over the leaf or standing away from it. This leaf box is held in place by the mid rib, which is not touched by the beetle. In length this case is about 4 inch and rather more than 4 inch in diameter. As many as fifty have been counted on one small branch of a chest- nut. It is formed by the female cutting a transverse incision about half-way down the leaf to the mid rib, the cut terminal part is then rolled into the box. In each case before it is rolled up, the female deposits an orange ovum, which batches into the larva in a week or ten days. The bright orange egg is easily seen; one only is placed in each {Horace Knight. FIG. 211.—LEAF BOX BEETLE (Attelabius cuculionides) AND LEAF NEST. box. The maggot feeds inside this chamber and pupates there, either when on the tree or on the eround. The beetles may oceur early in May, but the majority do so in the first two weeks in June. The colour is bright brick-dust red; the lead being black and also the secutellum, both thorax and abdomen are very finely punetate, the legs are dark brown and the tibire dentate on their inner side. The male differs from the female by having a single curved hook at the apex of the front tibie and reddish hairs on the abdomen; the female has two curved hooks on the apex of the front tibie and a smooth body. The length varies from } to + inch. The hazel and hawthorn also serve as food plants. Tt is very cominon in Kent and many of the midland counties, and is especially abundant at certain times in the Forest of Dean. Insects, etc., Injurious to Nuts. 313 When very abundant on the sweet chestnut the boxes should he collected and burnt, if on young trees. On old ones it does but little harm, REFERENCES. (1) Teisher-Schlich. + Manual of Forestry. vol. V., p. 198 (1895). (2) Theobald, FV. Animal Pests of Forest Trees. Toumal S. E. Aeri. Coll, No. 13, p. 185 (1904). H1—TO WALNUT. THE DUSKY-VEINED WALNUT LOUSE. (Plychodes juglandis, Frisch.) This is one of our most beautiful aphides, and it is strange that such a conspicuous insect’s life-history should remain still unknown. Itis well figured by Buckton (1). I observed it tor nine or ten years regularly (2) working upon some large walnut trees at Kingston -on- Thames; but, although present in plenty, it never increased sufficiently to do any serious harm to the trees until 1894, when this and other pests were most destructive. The earliest note of the creature's appearance upon the walnut leat was the Ist of July; in 184 none were observed until the 10th of July. In all instances the form of aphis first observed upon the leaves was the winged viviparous female. The follow- ing is copied direct from my notes :—“ These plant lice are ; ie FIG. 212.—THE DUSKY-VEINED WALNUT LOUSE, always to be found on the wpper