266 INSECTS 



and the like. We find among Dipterous larvae maggots 

 in some variety, often producing swellings oi* galls in 

 herbaceous stems, besides the numerous midge larvae 

 already so often mentioned. Hymenopterous borers 

 are comparatively few in number and chiefly members 

 of the saw-fly or horn-tail divisions. Some of these are 

 in grasses including grains, and are slender, white, 

 caterpillar-like forms which often hollow out the entire 

 length of a stalk. Pithy stems like those of blackberry 

 and raspberry are favorites with this kind of borers, 

 not many of which belong to the seriously injurious 

 class. The horn-tails attack woody plants more gen- 

 erally, but are also comparatively few in number, both 

 as to species and specimens. 



Lepidopterous or caterpillar borers we have in great 

 variety and in all kinds of plants and trees. The largest 

 of them belong to the Cossids and Hepialids, the giants 

 among the so-called Microlepidoptera. Most of these 

 are confined to forest trees, and it is notable that our 

 only really troublesome species is an imported one — 

 the wood-leopard moth — that attacks shade and orchard 

 trees. In this connection it is interesting to observe 

 that the boring habit among Lepidoptera is an ancient 

 one, not even confined to terrestrial vegetation, and 

 that by far the greatest number of the borers of the 

 present day are members of the simpler and earlier 

 types of Microlepidoptera. 



Wood-feeders largely we find in the Sesiid clear- 

 wing moths, among which are some of our most trouble- 

 some species, e.g., the peach borer, cherry borer, cur- 

 rant borer, blackberry borer and the like. Some live 

 in the solid wood of trunks and bra.nches, like the cherry 

 borer and those that live in oak, maple and other trees: 

 some live just beneath the bark and make chambers 

 rather than galleries, like, the peach borers: others are 



