ANNUAL MEETING AT LEXINGTON. 307 



EEPORT O^f THE IIs^SECTS INJURIOUS TO FRUITS IX MIS- 

 SOURI, FOR THE SEASON OF 188G. 



READ BY MISS IDA CRUME. 



INSECTS INJURIOUS TO APPLES. 



BY MISS MARY E. MURTFELDT, KIRKWOOD, MO. 



As the apple is the standard and 'standby fruit of the civilized 

 world, its insects enemies merit, and have received, special fconsidera- 

 tion from all economic entomologists. 



My memoranda for the present season may therefore be appropri- 

 ately introduced by a passing reference to, or a more extended de- 

 scription of some of the six-legged depredators on this fruit of fruits. 



Prof. Lintner, in his very valuable first report on the insects of 

 New York, enumerated one hundred and seventy-six species of insects 

 that feed, either exclusively or in addition to other vegetation upon 

 the apple tree. To this long list I could, from personal observation, 

 add at least a half dozen more, and I am sorry to say that almost every 

 tree that I saw during the past summer had the appearance of having 

 been ravaged by the entire army. 



It is true that the unthrifty foliage of the orchards and the general 

 failure of the fruit crops in all the States bordering on the Mississippi 

 river^ were due in some measure to the unusual climatic conditions. 

 The severity of the previous winter, the excessive rains of May and 

 June and the protracted drouth and the extreme heat of July and Au- 

 gust, could scarcely fail to produce very unequal development of both 

 foliage and fruit, besides rendering the trees peculiarly susceptible to 

 various fungus diseases. But, in addition to these, many of the most 

 formidable of insect pests made their appearance in vast numbers and 

 in uninterrupted succession. Scale insects and woolly aphis spread 

 over the bark; borers excavated the roots and tunneled the wood; 

 bugs and plant-lice rioted on the swelling buds, and, a little later, myr- 



