326 FRUIT INSECTS 



colored. They are inserted (Fig. 278) in a row of punctures 

 often two inches in length, each row on the average containing 

 about 30 eggs and may have as many as 80 in a row (Figs. 279 

 and 280) . The eggs hatch in May and June and the young tree 

 crickets feed principally on aphids and other soft-bodied 

 insects. 



The rows of punctures either kill the upper part of the cane 

 or so weaken it as to prevent the development of the fruit. 

 When very abundant, as is sometimes the case, the loss may 

 be large. 



In the past there has been some confusion as to the identity 

 of the species ovipositing in raspberry canes. This injury was 



formerly attributed 

 to 0. niveus, but re- 

 cent work at the 

 Geneva Experiment 

 Station has shown 

 that 0. nigricornis 

 is the real culprit 

 and that 0. nivem deposits its eggs preferably in the bark 

 of the smaller l)ranches of apple and other trees (see p. 211). 



The tree-crickets injuring berry canes can be held in check 

 by systematically collecting the canes containing the eggs at 

 the time of pruning and destroying them. 



Reference 

 Parrott, Jour. En. Ent. IV, pp. 216-218, pi. 6. 1911. 



The Raspberry Canb-borer 

 Oberea himaculata Olivier 



This native American borer often causes considerable injury 

 to the black and red raspberry and to the blackberry; its 

 original food-plant was the wild raspberry. It is generally dis- 



FiG. 280. — Tree-ericket eggs enlarged. 



