Packard.] TIIE POPULATION OF AiN" APPLE TREE. 1G5 



and lives in a cylindrical hole ; it then ceases to eject its 

 castings, simply pushing them behind it. According to 

 Riley, it is within a few da3^s of three years old before it is 

 ready to change to a pupa, instead of two, as generallj'- 

 stated. Before it becomes fully grown it leaves the heart 

 of the tree and makes its way to the bark, just beneath 

 which it transforms, making a rude cocoon of chips eight or 

 ten inches from its starting point. It pupates late in the 

 spring in May, and appears in June and early in July. The 

 beetle (Fig. 129, c) is a brown beetle with long antennas, 

 with two distinct white stripes. Its primitive home is the 

 June berry and mountain ash, while it also infests the haw- 

 thorne, wild apple, the quince and sometimes the pear. 



Having become acquainted with the habits of the insect, 

 we are prepared to deal in an intelligent way with it. When 

 the tree is found to be badly infested the readiest way is to 

 cut the worms out, or pour in boiling water. In the autumn 

 the bark should be carefully examined and the young worms 

 be dug out. The best preventive measure is to apply soap 

 to the trunks of young trees in June, or in May in the 

 western states, and surround the trunks with tarred paper. 

 This will baffle the beetle in laying her eggs. 



The Buprestid Borers. — Two beetles of this family infest 

 the trunk of tlie apple in their larval stage. They have 

 hard bodies with a rough exterior, fjg. 130. 



and have the power of snapping up 

 in the air when placed on their backs. 



The most common is Chrysohothris 

 femorata (Fig. 130, natural size ; a, 

 larva). The grub is much flattened 

 behind the liead, forming a rounded 

 expansion, behind which the bod}' is Chrysobothns. 



slender and cylindrical. This is the characteristic form of 

 the larvie of this extensive group of borers. The grub lives 

 a year under the bark of the apple and oak. The beetle is 



5 



