17 



cover as they do, they cannot be reached by ordinary poisons, and can 

 only be destroyed by the insertion of a wire into their boring, or by cut- 

 ting- out with a knife. The former operation is somewhat uncertain, and 

 the latter may injure the tree to a serious extent. The only safe remedy, 

 then, is to prevent the adult from laying- its eggs upon the tree. 



When the borers are known to be in a nursery or young orchard, the 

 trees may be protected by wrapping a few sheets of paper around the 

 trunk extending from the surface of the ground to two feet in height. 

 At the bottom the paper should be hilled up with earth, and at the top 

 made tight with a cord of bast or other material that will readily break 

 with the growth of the tree. Above the paper the trunk should be washed 

 from the limbs downward with soft-soap reduced to the consistency of 

 paint by adding a solution of washing soda. Whale-oil or common soft- 

 soap may be used. The object of this i^ to prevent the beetles from 

 laying their eees on the base of the tree and hindering- those that have 

 completed their transformations from getting out, by means of the paper 

 protection. The wash higher up will deter the insect from laying eggs 

 anywhere else. 



Fig. 28.— Round- 

 a grub, 



headed apple-tree borer : 

 b pupa, c beetle. 



Fig. 29. — Flat-headed apple- 

 tree borer : a grub, b pupa, 

 c enlarged head and fol- 

 lowing segments, d beetle. 



The Flat-Headed Apple-Tree Borer (Chrysobothris femorata), 

 Fig. 29, is much more common than the preceding species and differs in 

 many respects in its habits and life-history. The adult beetle is about 

 half an inch in length, somewhat flattened above and with short antenna?. 

 The upper surface is dark metallic brown, while beneath it is bright cop- 

 per color; the thighs of the fore legs are armed with a stout tooth, from 

 which the insect's specific name (femorata) is derived. It delights in the 

 hot sunshine and may be found on logs and the trunks of trees. Like 

 most wood-borers, it chiefly attacks trees that are dying or weakened by 

 disease, and will bore into the limbs and branches as well as the trunk ; 

 its chief injuries, however, are done to young and newly transplanted 

 trees. The eggs are laid late in May and in June in crevices of the bark, 



2 bctll. 158 



