INSECTS AFFECTING PARK AND WOODLAND TREES 283 



beetles, and the bark at least destroyed by burnin<,r. Clean culture, which 

 in this instance would mean the removal of dying or dead limbs or injured 

 trees, would do much towards preventing injury, as it will naturally tend to 

 reduce the numbers of this pest. 



Bibliography 

 1897 Chittenden, F. H. V. S. Dej/t A-,ri( . Div. Ent, Cir. 24, 2 ser. p. i-S 

 1897 U. S. Dep'l Agric. I)i\. l'",nt. I!ul. 7, n. s. i). 67-71 



Thorn limb borer 



Sapcrda fayi Bland 

 Oval swellings with four to five longitudinal scars occurring on the small limbs and 

 stems of wild thorn, are tlie work of tliis sjiecies. 



This little borer is local and badl\- infested thorntrees may be onl)- a 

 short distance from others entirel)' free from attack. It appears to W\ 

 widely distributed in New York State, and should this species, like its 

 allies, acquire a taste for cultivated fruit trees it would ])robably not be a 

 dangerous enemy, as its galls indicate the presence of the borer and they 

 could easily be cut off in time to destroy the contained insects. 



Life history. The beetles appear during the last week in May or the 

 first of June at Allegheny Pa., the males preceding the females by three or 

 four days. They do not appear to eat and are short-lived, the whole brood, 

 excepting stragglers, emerging and disappearing witliin about 10 or 12 

 days. The insects fly but little and usually oviposit on the same tree the)' 

 inhabited as borers and drop to th" ground and conccual themselves when- 

 ever disturbed. Oviposition probabl)' occurs at niglit, and limbs from ',/ 

 to I 3<^ inches in diameter are selected. Three to six longituilinal incisions 

 about Y\ '"ch long, ecjually distant antl parallel one to another, are made 

 through the l:)ark and an (t'g^ ])laced in each. Tlie hir\-a bores miderni'ath 

 the outer layer of tlu- wood for a distance of perhaps 1,8 inch and uses this 

 as a retreat from which it feeds on diseased wood caused by the incision. 

 The o-nawing of the larvae results in an increased flow of sap and the 

 development of the gall. The IjoriTs are about '4 inch in length at the 



