INSECTS INJURIOUS TO THE RED AND WHITE 

 CURRANT. 



ATTACKING THE STEMS. 



No. 202. — The Imported Currant-borer. 



jSSgeria tipuliformis Linn. 



This insect has for many years been a serious impediment 

 in the way of successful currant-culture. It is an importa- 

 tion from Europe, where it has long proved troublesome ; in 

 the larval state it burrows up and down the interior of the 

 stems, making them so hollow and weak that they frequently 

 break in the spring from the weight of foliage when swayed 

 by the action of the wind. 



The parent of this destructive larva is a pretty, wasp-like 

 moth (see Fig. 349), which measures, when its wings are ex- 

 panded, about three-quarters of an inch across. 

 The body is of a bluish-black color, the abdo- 

 men being crossed by three narrow golden bands, 

 while on the thorax and at the base of the wings 

 are streaks of a similar color. The wings are 

 transparent, but veined and bordered with brown- 

 ish black with a coppery lustre ; the bordering is widest on 

 the front wings, which are also crossed by a band of the same 

 color beyond the middle. The moth appears about the 

 middle of June, when it may be found in the hot sunshine, 

 darting about with a rapid flight, sipping the nectar of flowers 

 or basking on the leaves, alternately expanding and closing 

 its fan-like tail, or searching for suitable places in which to 

 deposit its eggs. 



The female is said to lay her eggs near the buds, wLere in 

 a, few days they hatch into small larvae, fvhich eat their way to 

 336 



Fig. 349. 



