294 Annual Report for 1912 of the Zoologist. 



Four of the fruit pests inquired about have been enemies 

 of the raspberry plant : — the gall-midge, the raspberry weevil, 

 the bud-moth and the raspberry-beetle. The work of the gall- 

 midge, Lasioptera riiM, is peculiar, and perhaps more dis- 

 figuring than seriously injurious, though it is capable, on 

 occasion, of doing considerable harm. The diseased canes 

 show brown irregular swellings, which, on being opened, are 

 found to contain orange-coloured maggots. The midges lay 

 their eggs in June and the resultant grubs bore into the bark, 

 where in the course of a few weeks the swellings or galls 

 begin to appear. The winter is passed in the grub stage, but 

 in spi'ing pupation takes place — still in the galls — and the flies 

 come out at the end of May or the beginning of June. It is 

 advisable to cut off and burn these galls as soon as ever they 

 are observed. 



The raspberry weevils (various species of Otiorrhynchus, 

 but especially O. picipes) do harm in a variety of ways. Their 

 grubs injure the roots of the plant, while the adult weevils 

 gnaw the young bark, perforate the leaves, and, worst of all, 

 attack the blossoms and injure or destroy the developing fruit. 

 And the cause of injury may well escape observation, for all 

 the work above ground is performed at night. The pest is best 

 combated by clearing the soil of dead leaves and hoeing in soot 

 and quick lime, and by shaking down the beetles at night on 

 to tarred boards or into vessels containing paraffin. This 

 operation must be performed carefully, for the weevils drop 

 when a light is flashed upon them, and many will escape before 

 the tarred boards are in position unless the lamp is properly 

 managed. 



The raspberry bud-moth is annually responsible for a large 

 amount of damage, and many buds killed by it and containing 

 the characteristic small red caterpillar may often be noticed on 

 raspberry canes. The ground should be treated as in the case 

 of weevil attack, and it is particularly important to remember 

 that many of the insects hibernate in the supporting stakes, 

 which should be dispensed with, if possible, where the pest 

 occurs, or at all events removed and burned and replaced by 

 new stakes in the winter. 



It was stated in last year's report that the attempts to throw 

 further light on the life history of the raspberry beetle, 

 Byturus tomentosus, had practically failed. All endeavours to 

 rear the insects from infested fruit in the laboratory were 

 unsuccessful, and the results ol)tained from the experimental 

 sheds erected over infested plants in the open were scanty. 

 This summer the problem was attacked in another way, and it 

 seems now likely to be solved. Six raspberry plants were 

 grown in six large flower pots under natural conditions and 



