70 INJURIOUS INSECTS OF KANSAS. 



shining green) may be seen "basking in the sunshine" on the 



tree trunks. 



Description and Life-history. — This apple pest is markedly dif 



ferent, in both larval and adult states, from the Round-headed 



Apple-tree Borer, The adult is a beetle belonging to the family 



Buprestidffi. " It is of a flattish, ob- 

 long form, and of a shining, greenish- 

 black color, each of its wing-cases 

 [or covers] having three raised lines, 

 the other two interrupted by two im- 

 pressed transverse spots of a brassy 



Fig. 39. Flat-headed Apple-tkee color, dividing Cach wing-COVer intO 

 Bokee; beetle and larva. ° °, 



three nearly equal portions. The 

 under side of the body and the legs shine like burnished copper ; 

 the feet are shining green." The beetle is from three-eighths to 

 one-half an inch long. It is seen from June 1 to the middle of 

 August. The following notes on the life-history of the j^est in 

 Kansas are quoted from a report of the committee of entomology 

 of the Douglas County Horticultural Society (see Kansas Horti- 

 cultural Report, vol. ix (1879), p. 166; reprinted in other vol- 

 umes of the reports) : 



Your committee beg leave to ofifer the following deductions from 

 their observations of the Flat-headed Apple-tree Borer, so destructive to 

 orchards, shade and ornamental trees, during the years 1874 and 1875, 

 in this State: 



1. This very destructive insect made its first appearance in the beetle 

 form on May 25; were the most numerous between the middle of June 

 and August 1. A few were seen as late as August 26. 



2. They commenced depositing eggs by the middle of June, which 

 were placed under scales and in crevices of the bark, generally upon 

 the side exposed to the direct rays of the sun. Wounded portions, 

 made by bruises, trimming off of branches, and sun-scalds, were found 

 especially inviting to their deposits. 



3. They infest only such trees as are debilitated. Late transplanting, 

 protracted drouths, derangements of the organisms by extremes of heat 

 and cold, unproductive soil, neglect in care and cultivation, produce a 

 low condition of vitality in trees, a condition sought for by the mother 

 of this species as most naturally adajited to a successful procreation. 



4. The larva, or worm, does not survive a vigorous flow of sap, nor 

 endure a continual shade. In the first condition it drowns, and in the 

 second it weakens and dies. 



. 5. It deposits its eggs during the middle of the day, and only during 

 warm, sunny days. In the morning and evening, on stormy days and 



