394 REPORT OF STATE BOARD OF HORTICULTURE, 



hundred thousand trees had been killed outright in two or three weeks' time. 

 I also heard of half a dozen nurseries which were entirely destroyed or very 

 seriously affected, and of orchardists who will be compelled to replant hun- 

 dreds of trees. Such trees are badly dwarfed, and make only a feeble, sickly 

 growth. The leaves are light green or yellowish, more or less rolled at the 

 margins, and red or purple spotted from the attack of fungi." 



It will be seen from the foregoing that this is a very serious pest, and 

 eastern-grown trees should not be planted till properly disinfected ; or, to be 

 safe, the practice of planting eastern-grown trees ought to be discontinued. 



The description of the species is herewith given, so that it can be identi- 

 fied. The winged form is well represented in the figure, so far as shape and 

 general appearance are concerned. It is of a shining- black or very dark- 

 brown color. The legs are deep brown on the thighs, the tips of the shanks^ 

 and the tarsi, else yellowish. The cornicles, or honey tubes, are quite long, 

 moderately slender, and of the same color as the body. There is a series of 

 deep pits on each side of the abdomen. 



The wingless form differs in the somewhat stouter body, but is very gen- 

 erally like the winged type in color and general structure. The young are 

 of a faint greenish-brown, becoming darker as they grow older, until they 

 are of the typical shining black peculiar to the full-grown specimens. The 

 antennae of the winged form have the sensory pit extremely developed, every 

 joint beyond the basal knob joints being furnished with them. In the wing- 

 less foi'ms the antennae have only the usual single pit on the third long joint, 

 and the little group on the whip joint. 



Life-history — This species is found on the roots of the trees throughout the 

 year, and it breeds there quite undisturbed. Early in spring, or when the 

 leaf-shoots begin to start, they make their way to the surface and to the 

 branches. Here the winged form develops, and then makes its way to new 

 quarters, founding new colonies wherever it reaches, and these about mid- 

 summer make their way to the ground and to the roots. Usually some few 

 specimens are to be found on the leaves throughout the summer, but they 

 are much more abimdant in spring. 



No males of this species have been observed, and no eggs have been 

 found. 



PLUM APHIS, 



{ Aphis yrunifolla, Fitch.) 



This is a si^ecies of plant lice attacking the young shoots and unnderside 

 of plum and prune leaves, puncturing them and sucking the sap, thereby 

 checking the growth of the tree and the development of the fruit. 



When first hatched they are of a whitish color tinged with green, but as 

 they increase in size they become a deeper green, and when mature some of 

 them are dark, with pale green abdomens and dusky wings; eyes dark 

 brown. The insect and infested leaves are covered with a whitish powder. 



