376 



FRUIT INSECTS 



feeding it punctures the buds and tender growing tips with 

 the sharp bristles of its beak, and sucks out the plant juices; 

 at the same time it apparently injects into the wound some 



substance poisonous 

 to the plant which 

 kills the surrounding 

 tissue. Peach nurs- 

 ery stock is particu- 

 larly liable to injury. 

 The bugs attack and 

 kill the tender tips 

 (Fig. 328), causing 

 the tree to throw 



Fig. 328. — Tip of peach nursery tree injured by ^^^ lateral branches 

 the tarnished plant-bug. ^ • -, 



which are m turn 

 similarly injured, producing an overly branched, scrubby tree 

 which cannot be sold as iirst-class stock. Pear and apple 

 stock are often attacked, but seem able to outgrow the injury 

 more easily than peach. 



As a strawberry pest the tarnished 

 plant-bug often causes considerable 

 loss by puncturing the young fruits 

 before the receptacle expands. Ber- 

 ries thus injured remain small and 

 hard and turn dark colored ; when 

 the injury is only partial, they become 

 deformed at one side or knobbed at 

 the tip; in either case they are unfit 

 for the market. This injury is known Fi«- 329. -^^Tho^ |rnished 

 to the growers as buttoning. 



The tarnished plant-bug has been known to injure the pear 

 crop severely by puncturing and killing the opening buds and 

 blossoms. It has been known to deposit its eggs in young 

 apples, causing scars which persist as dimi)les in the mature 



