58 BUPRESTID-BEETLES. 



THE RED-NECKED BLACKBERRY-BORER. 



(Agrilus ntficollis Fab.). 



This very common beetle, much more common in Minne- 

 sota than most people would believe, is found wherever black- 

 berries and raspberries occur. In the burned over regions about 

 Hinckley, where a dense growth of these plants has covered the 

 ground since the fire, the writer has seen small plants of rasp- 

 berries upon the leaves of which he could count, not dozens, but 

 hundreds of these pretty insects disporting themselves in the 

 bright sunlight. They are very active, flying away when dis- 

 turbed, or, dropping to the ground as if dead, are difficult to 

 discover among the dead material found under such plants. Of 

 course wherever they are found in such numbers they must be 

 injurious. 



Fig. 65. — Agrilus ruficollis. Fab. Gall and larva. After Riley. 



Sometimes the presence of their larvae can be readily de- 

 tected by the swollen appearance of the vines (Fig. 65), which 

 look gouty, hence the name Raspberry Gouty-gall. This swell- 

 ing is caused by the constant irritation caused by the larva in- 

 side. The swollen portions of the cane are not smooth, but have 

 the surface roughened with numerous slits and ridges. When we 

 cut under such ridges we find a burrow under each of them, and 

 in it, or in the soft adjoining substance, we find the culprit. It 



