CURRANT AND GOOSEBERRY INSECTS 



359 



this point. It then surrounds itself with a silken cocoon within 

 which it remains as a grub all winter. The change to a pupa 

 takes place in the spring, and the adult insect emerges a few 

 days later. 



The currant-stem girdler 

 cannot be reached at any 

 time or in any way with a 

 spray. Fortunately, however, 

 its habits are such that it 

 can be easily controlled by 

 other means. The girdhng 

 habit of the adult insect 

 which causes the young shoot 

 to wilt, die, and drop off in 

 May makes it easy to deter- 

 mine whether the pest is pres- 

 ent or not. Since the egg is 

 embedded in the shoot less 

 than an inch below where the 

 girdling is done, and as the 

 grubs rarely tunnel down 

 more than six inches, if the 

 injured shoots are cut off at 

 least eight inches below the 



girdle and burned, the insect will be effectively controlled. If 

 the work is performed in May or June soon after the girdling 

 is done, only two or three inches of the tips need be cut off. 

 The cutting and burning of about eight inches of the tips of 

 the injured shoots at any time of the year, even in winter, will 

 prove an effective remedy for this pest. 



Fig. 319. — Girdled portion of a 

 stem, much enlarged, to show the char- 

 acter of the girdle. 



References 



Marlatt, Ins. Life, VTI, pp. 387-390. 1895. 

 Cornell Agr. Exp. Sta. Bull. 126, pp. 41-53. 1897. 



