Kusl), at West Willow, Pa., with a solution of 1^ pounds of lead arsen- 

 ate to 50 gallons of water witli 10 pounds of glucose sugar added to 

 impart a sweet taste. The flies were observed feeding on the sweet 

 coating given to the leaves and the nuts that ripened later were com- 

 paratively free from maggots. It was obvious that the flies died from 

 the poison before depositing many eggs in the nuts. 



Twig Girdle rs 



During the past two seasons the sjaeaker has made special studies 

 of several species of beetles which cut or girdle young hickory 

 trees, or the branches of larger trees^ causing the severed part to 

 break off or die. Not fewer than four distinct species of beetles in the 

 east have this habit. Three of the insects do their damage in the 

 larval stage. One of these, Elaphidion villosum, has been called the 

 twig-pruner. It is a well known sj^ecies and its work in pruning the 

 branches of hickory and various other trees has often been referred to. 

 The other two species which sever the wood in their larval stage are 

 Fseiidohidion nnicolor and Agrilus a re ii at us. Thus far, these two have 

 no common names. In certain localities they are proving to be very 

 troublesome to both young and bearing trees. In one block of a nur- 

 sery in Virginia I estimated' that the Agrilus larvae had ruined one- 

 hundred dollars' worth of young hickory trees. Fortunately, the adult 

 of this species feeds freely on hickory foliage and can be killed read- 

 ily under nursery conditions by spraying with arsenical poisons. 



The fourth girdler referred to is our familiar hickory twig-girdler, 

 Oncideres cingulatus. In this case the adult insect cuts a ring-like 

 furrow around the wood and the portion ahove dies. The purpose of 

 the girdle is to provide dead wood in which the young may feed. 

 After the girdle is made, a process which occupies several hours, and, 

 sometimes several days, the eggs are laid in the bark above. In cen- 

 tral West Virginia and northward the grubs which hatch from these 

 eggs require two years in which to reach maturity. In the vicinity of . 

 Richmond and southward, however, the larvae mature in one year. 

 This more rapid development in the south probably accounts in part 

 for the recent serious outbreak of this insect in Virginia and the 

 Carolinas. 



Each female beetle is capable of girdling several twigs. One 

 female of about a dozen kept in confinement last auturan made eleven 

 g:irdles and deposited 5.5 eggs. Several of the beetles continued their 



