332 



FRUIT INSECTS 



The Red-necked Cane-borer 



Fig. 290. — 

 Beetle of the red- 

 necked cane- 

 borer (X2f). 



Agrilus ruficollis Fabricius 



The new canes of blackberry, dewberry and raspberry are 

 often injured by the larva of a beetle which causes irregular 

 swellings or galls from 

 one to three inches 

 in length. These 

 galls are gradual en- 

 largements of the 

 cane and are char- 

 acterized by a longi- 

 tudinal splitting of 

 the bark (Fig. 293). 

 Infested canes either 

 die or are so weak- 

 ened as to prevent the develop- 

 ment of the fruit. 



The parent beetle (Fig. 290) is 

 about I inch in length; the wing- 

 covers are black with a dull bluish 

 reflection, and the thorax or '^ neck" y,^^ 291. -A beetle that 



is metallic coppery, reddish or brassy ; died because she was unable to 

 ,T 1 I'll! -J.! i IT free her ovipositor after egg- 



tne head is black with metallic re- laying. Knight photo. 

 flections. The beetles may be found 



on the berry bushes on bright days from the last of May 

 till August, but are most abundant in June. The egg is in- 

 serted in the bark near the base of a leaf on the new growth. 

 Figure 291 shows a female beetle that died because she was 

 unable to free her ovipositor after depositing the egg. The 

 young larva burrows upward in the sapwood, passing around 

 the stem in a spiral course from two to six times, thus girdling 

 the cane and causing the gall (Fig. 293) . The larva then bores 



