44 



BULI.KTIN 126. 



whether this stem girdler is at work on their bushes or not. The 

 results are very conspicuous from the first, as is well shown (half 

 natural size) in the frontispiece. In May, after the new shoots 

 have reached a growth of several inches, two or three inches of 

 the tips of those attacked by the insect will suddenly wilt or fall 

 over and hang suspended or may fall to the ground. A careful 

 examination of the shoot at the point where it broke off will show 

 that it was deftly girdled with several sharp, somewhat curved 

 cuts extending nearly through the stem. Figures «, b, and c, 



A I plate IV. illustrate this gird- 

 ling process which will be dis- 

 cussed in detail when we tell 

 the life-story of the insect. 

 Sometimes where the stem is 

 quite large or the cuts do not 

 extend deep enough, the tip 

 will remain upright for several 

 days or more, but it usually 

 wilts, dies, and breaks off later. 

 This girdling, of course, stops 

 all further growth of the shoot 

 at the tip, thus disfiguring and 

 stunting that portion of the bush 

 for the rest of the season. This 

 severing of the terminal shoot, 

 is, in fact, the principal damage 

 done by the insect. Sometimes 

 the growth of a very thrifty 

 shoot will be continued by one 

 of the side buds below the gir- 

 dle, as shown (half natural 

 size) on the right of figure 17. 

 The injured shoots can also be quite readily discovered in the 

 winter ; the three shoots shown in the left of figure 17 were cut 

 before growth began in the spring. They show that the girdling 

 in the preceeding May had effectually stopped all growth during 

 the season. The characteristic dead stubs on the ends of injured 

 shoot render them sufficiently conspicuous to be recognized by 



17. — Currant stems as they appear in winter, 

 after having been gi idled by the in- 

 sect in May. One-half natural size. 



