INSECTS INJURIOUS TO BERRIES 



469 



CURRANTS AND GOOSEBERRIES 



As with the raspberries and blackberries the cane-borers are 

 the most important enemies of the currant and gooseberry 

 bushes. 



The Imported Currant-borer (Mgeria tipuliformis) . In 

 appearance and habits this insect is much like the raspberry 

 root-borer, but it works in the canes above the ground and 

 not in the crown or roots. The eggs are laid in the axils of 

 the leaves or on the currant canes, the larvae boring into the 

 canes as soon as they are hatched. During the winter the 

 half-grown larvae may be found in the center of the cane at 



the bottom of the burrow where 



they have been working. Early 

 in the spring they commence to 

 work again, pupating in May. 

 The adult moths issue in June. 



The leaves of the affected canes 

 are lighter or yellowish in color, 

 thus enabling one to detect and 

 prune out the affected parts of 

 the bush. All dead or affected 

 wood should be cut out and de- 

 stroyed as early as possible. 



The Currant-stem Girdler 



(Janus integer}. This is a small, slender, shining black saw- 

 fly that girdles the currant canes just above the point where 

 she lays her eggs. 



As the first indication of the presence of the pest is the 

 ''< dying tips that have been girdled, nothing can be done to check 

 the damage that season, but if the affected stalks are cut off 

 three or four inches below where they were girdled the larvae, 

 which are lying in the stalks, may be destroyed. If the prun- 

 ing is left until winter time the cut should be made eight or 

 nine inches below the dead end of the cane. 



The Currant Saw-flies (Pteronus ribesi and Gymnonychus 

 appendiciilatus] . The larvae of these saw-flies, which feed on the 

 foliage, and any other leaf-feeding larvae may be controlled by 



FIG. 223. Imported currant- 

 borer, Mgeria tipulifor m i s , 

 adult. (About natural size.) 



