Reports to various Correspondents. 77 



Animals injurious to Forestry. 

 The Holly-leaf Miner. 



Holly trees, especially holly hedges, are often disfigured by 

 blistering of the leaves. Specimens of this damage were received 

 from Upper Deal with the following note : — " I have a hedge of this 

 shrub very badly affected ; will you kindly tell me the cause of and 

 the cure for the disease ? " 



The trees were attacked by the maggots of a fly kno^-n as Chroma- 

 tomyia ilicis, Curtis, a very common insect. Altliough hollies are 

 frequently attacked by these insects, they seem to do very little harm. 



The insect is one of the Phytomyzidse, a family of leaf-mining 

 flies, and has been described by Walker as Phytomyza aquifolii. The 

 fly appears in ]\Iay. The hedge might then be sprayed with paraffin 

 emulsion now and again — this might keep the flies away. Nothing 

 has been tried to check this insect, so anything done can only be by 

 way of experiment. 



The Goat Moth. 



(Cossus lifjniperda, Fabricius.) 



The Goat Moth is one of the largest of British moths, and 

 although really very common is seldom seen in its mature state. 

 This is because the dull colours of the moth resemble so closely the 

 bark of the trees upon which they rest. Although the moth is not 

 well known, nevertheless, in its larval or caterpillar state it is a 

 common and well-known object ; whilst the damage the larvtB do is 

 so very marked that there are few people who cannot recognise the 

 ravages of this pest. 



The Goat Moth (Cossus ligniperda) is found in most wooded parts 

 of Great Britain, and is especially common in and around towns, 

 where ornamental and park trees are frequently ruined by them. I 

 have seen great numbers of trees killed in and around London, 

 whilst in the suburbs the damage is still more frequent. 



Similarly in France, in Paris frequent damage is done by them ; 

 the elms in the Bois de Boulogne have suffered severely. It is also 

 a pest in Germany and other parts of Europe. In Great Britain it is 

 perhaps most abundant in the south and east, but its attacks are 

 frequent even np to the extreme North of Scotland. 



