14 



INSECTS INJURIOUS TO THE APPLE. 



its proboscis. In the very young lice this instrument, when 

 at rest and folded under the abdomen, is longer than the 

 body, but in the more mature specimens it is only about two- 

 thirds the length of 

 *'io- 1- the body. While it 



usually confines it- 

 self to the roots of 

 trees, it is sometimes 

 found on the suck- 

 ers that spring up 

 around them, and 

 sometimes also 

 about the stump of 

 an amputated 

 branch, but in every instance it may be recognized by the 

 bluish-white cottony matter with which its body is covered. 

 If this cottony covering be forcibly removed, it will be found 

 that in two or three days the insect will have again produced 

 sufficient to envelop itself completely. Occasionally the ma- 

 ture lice crawl up the branches of the trees during the sum- 

 mer, where they also form colonies, and then are known as 

 the Woolly Aphis of the Apple. This form of the insect will 

 be referred to more fully under No. 9. 



The appearance of this root-louse is recorded in Downing's 

 " Horticulturist" as early as 1848, at which time thousands 

 of young trees were found to be so badly infested that they 

 had to be destroyed. Since that period it has been gradually 

 but widely disseminated, establishing colonies almost every- 

 where, in the North, South, East, and West. Where a tree is 

 sickly from any unknown cause, and no borers can be found 

 sapping its vitals, the presence of this pest may be suspected. 

 In such cases the earth should be removed from the roots 

 about the surface, and these carefully examined, when, if 

 warty swellings are discovered, no time should be lost in 

 faking steps to destroy the insidious foe. 



Remedies. — The most successful means yet devised for de- 



