62 



SwAiNE (J. M.). The White Pine Weevil, Pissodes strobi, in Quebec. — 

 Ninth Ann. Rept. Quebec Soc. Protection Plants from Insects & 

 Fungous Dis., 1916-1917; Quebec, 1917, pp. 60-64, 2 plates. 

 [Received 12th December 1917.] 

 Pissodes strobi (white pine weevil) is probably the chief cause of 

 distorted and crooked white pine in Eastern Canada, the larvae 

 killing the terminal shoots of young trees. For the last five or six 

 years this weevil has been particularly abundant in Quebec and 

 Ontario. The adults emerge from their winter quarters about April 

 and oviposit upon the terminal shoots ; the eggs hatch in about a 

 week, and the young larvae work down the bark and, when mature, 

 bore into the wood, penetrating to the pith. Cocoons are con- 

 structed in the ends of the tunnels, whence the weevils emerge 

 during July and August and hibernate until the following spring. The 

 best method of checking the injury is thorough collection of the fading 

 tops in late June and again about the middle of July ; these should be 

 burned or else stored in boxes covered at the ends with fine wire 

 netting in order to retain the beetles while allowing beneficial parasites 

 to escape. When the adults appear in April, they may be collected by 

 shaking into a net or a pan of kerosene. This should be done once a 

 week in nurseries and plantations during the oviposition period, and on 

 very valuable trees in parks and private grounds the collections should 

 be made almost daily. 



HuTCHiNGS (C. B.). Two Destructive Shade Tree Borers. — Ninth Ann. 

 Rept. Quebec Soc. Protection Plants from Insects & Fungous Dis., 

 1916-1917; Quebec, 1917, pp. 65-70, 1 plate. [Received 12th 

 December 1917.] 



Of the two borers discussed in this paper, Cyllene robiniae (the borer 

 of the black locust tree, Robinia pseudacacia), which has been causing 

 serious injury throughout Ontario and Quebec, has been dealt with 

 previously [see this Review, Ser. A, v, pp. 398 and 551]. 



The Buprestid, Agrilus anxius, (xory, is the most destructive enemy 

 of bronze birch in Quebec, where varieties of birch are cultivated 

 extensively in parks and gardens. The insects begin to do damage 

 at the top of the tree and work downwards, killing the upper branches 

 first and then attacking the trunk and larger branches, through 

 which the larval tumiels run, intersecting one another within the 

 inner bark and sapwood. The eggs are laid on the bark in June, and 

 the young larvae at once form their tunnels, in which they remain 

 quiescent during the winter, continuing their burrow^s in the following 

 spring. The only method that can be safely recommended is to cut out 

 all infested branches and burn them, preferably at once or at least 

 before May of the following year. Parasites undoubtedly form a very 

 important factor in the natural control of this beetle, and the presence 

 of birds should be encouraged in parks and gardens, as they certainly 

 help in checking its numbers. 



LocHHEAD (W.). Near Relatives of Insects Injurious to Plants and 

 Animals. — Ninth Ann. Rept. Quebec Soc. Protection Plants from 

 Insects & Fungous Dis., 1916-1917 ; Quebec, 1917, pp. 138-144. 

 This paper gives a brief resume of various pests of plants, including 



