44 



INSECTS AFFECTING THE PEACH. 



By K B. Reed, London, Ont. 



THE PEACH BORER {^geria exitinsa, Say.) 



Order, Lepidoptera ; Family, ^gerid^b. 



This notorious pest, which has been well termed " the silent and insidious destroyer 

 of the peach tree," is so common, and its attacks are so universal wherever peach-culture 

 is attempted, that we deem it matter of interest to our readers to lay before them the 

 full details of its history. The laborious researches of those able American Entomolo- 

 gists, Mr. Thomas Say, of Philadelphia, Dr. Thaddens Harris, of Massachusetts, and Dr. 

 Asa Fitch, of New York, have caused the whole history of the peach borer to be well 

 worked up, and it is from their writings that we propose to condense the following 

 treatise for tlie benefit of our Canadian readers. 



Mr. Say first described the insect in 1826, and gave it the name of exiliosa, a word 

 signifying " destructive," in allusion to its powers of mischief. The perfect insect 

 belongs to a group or family of moths, which, from their transparent wings and slender 

 bodies with coloured bands, bear so strong a resemblance to certain bees, wasps, hornets and 

 flies that various species liave received the names of upiformk, the bee-shaped ; vespiformis, 

 the wasp-shaped ; cralirfliiifnrmis, the hornet-shaped ; tipuUfurmis, the gnat-shaped, etc. So 

 deceptive is this likeness that even the celebrated naturalist, DeGeer, in writing of one of 

 the species observes, "the first time that I saw it I liesitated to take it with my naked liand, 

 believing that I had found a wasp." The moths fly only in the day time, and they may 

 be frequently seen basking in the .sun.shine. Their larvae derive all their nourishment 

 from the wood and pith of the various shrubs and trees which they aftect, and in the 

 stems or roots of which they lie concealed. 



At figure 34 we give a representation of 

 of the perfect or winged state of the peach 

 borer. No. 1 showing the female and No. 2 the 

 male, by which our readers will notice tliat the 

 sexes differ so remarkably in appearance that 

 it is difficult to believe that they both belong to 

 the saniespecies. The male, No. 2, is of a deep 

 steel ))lue colour, with various pale yellow 

 „ , i,, , T., J TT ,, „ . marks, and has a glossy satin-like lustre. The 



Colours Steel Blue and Yellow Band. , ' i i i'' i r. • i xi ■ 



antennie are black, and innged on the inner 

 •ide with numerous fine short hairs.. Tlie palpi, or feelers, the shoulder-covers, the rings 

 of the abdomen, and of the peculiar brush or fan on the tail are edged with pale yellow. 

 The wings expand about one inch ; they are all transparent and glass-like, with a slight 

 tinge of smoky yellow, their veins, margin and fringe are steel blue. The body is slender 

 and cylindrical. The feet are black, with two rings of pale yellow on the shins. 



The female, No. 1, has a very dark steel blue body, with a tinge of purple, and a 

 broad band of a bright glossy orange-yellow colour, occupying the whole of the fourth 

 and fifth segments. The abdomen \a of a long oval form, nearly twice as broad as that 

 ni the male. The antenna; have no fringe along their inner sides. The fore wings are 

 opaque, and of a steel blue colour, with the tips and fringes of a ])urplish tint. The 

 hind wings are transparent like those of the male ; tliey are broadly margined upon both 



