328 Report of the Entomologists of the 



two tons per acre, and may continue to yield good crops for from 

 ten to fifteen years. By November the willow whips are ready 

 to cut, the old stubs being- left to produce the next year's crop. 



It is the object of the grower to produce a tall, straight but 

 flexible growth about one-eighth of an inch in diameter at base 

 and measuring from five to nine feet in height. The injury 

 caused by the beetles is not so much the weakening of the plant 

 by loss of foliage as by the branching of the willow whips which 

 results from the injury to the rapidly growing tips. The beetles 

 which have lived over winter are astir early in May and feed for 

 two or three weeks. They attack the young willows vigorously, 

 feeding largely on the new growth, thus causing the tips to wilt 

 and die.- Frequently the entire tip is eaten off. In this manner 

 irreparable injury is caused at the beginning of the season. Plate 

 XVIII is from a photograph showing a bunch of young willows 

 with injured tips. Plate XIX is from a photograph of a normal 

 willow whip, and one which was injured early in the season in a 

 manner similar to those shown at Plate XVIII. At a the willow 

 was eaten off or sufficiently to stop the growth, thus resulting in 

 the sprouts and consequent worthless willows, as these sprouts 

 never become long enough for basket-making purposes. The un- 

 injured willow is shown on the left. 



The injurious work begun by the beetles is continued by the 

 larvae and adults of the next brood, and as these are much more 

 numerous and appear at a time when the willows are growing at 

 their best, the injury is much greater. 



DESCRIPTIVE DETAILS. 



DESCRIPTIONS and life history. 



Appearance in the spring. — The beetles which have lived over 

 winter come forth from their retreats during the latter part of 

 April or early in May. In the vicinity of Syracuse they are 

 usually first seen from the 1st to the 10th of May. As pre- 



