THE IMPORTED ELM LEAF-BEETLE. / 1a) 
distinguished by the elytra not being striate-punctate but simply rugose, the sculpt- 
ure under high magnifying being represented in Fig. 11. The color of the upper side 
is pale yellow or yellowish-brown, with the following parts black: on the head a 
frontal (often wanting) and a vertical spot; three spots on the thorax; on the elytra 
a narrow stripe along the suture, ashort, often indistinct scutellar stria each side, 
and a wider humeral stripe not reaching the tip. Under side black, pro and meso- 
sternum and legs yellow, femora with a black apical spot. Upper and under side 
covered with very fine, short, silky hairs. In newly-hatched individuals the black 
markings have a greenish tint ; the humeral stripe varies in extent. 
The beetle assists the larva in its destructive work, but, as usual in 
such cases, the damage done by the perfect insect is small when com- 
pared with that done by the larva. There are three or four annual 
generations of the insect, according to the character of the season. In 
the month of September the beetles prepare for hibernation, seeking 
shelter in hollow trees, in the ground, under old leaves, &c., and re- 
main dormant until the following spring. 
REMEDIES. 
M. Girard says: 
There is no other means of destruction than to jar the branches over cloths to collect 
the larve and adults which fall. It isalso possible when they are on the ground to 
distribute on them boiling water or steam, or even quick-lime or solution of sulpho- 
carbonate of potassium. 
In our own country much more has been accomplished toward prac- 
tically combating this insect. 
In the U.S. Agricultural Report of 1867, Glover suggested the use 
of oil and tar gutters and other barriers surrounding the base or 
the body of the tree, devices similar to those used against the canker- 
worm and codling-moth. He then and afterward (1870) recommended 
‘“‘to place around each tree small, tight, square boxes or frames, a foot 
or 18 inches in height, sunk in the earth ; the ground within the in- 
closure to be covered with cement, and the top edge of each frame to 
be covered with broad, projecting pieces of tin, like the eaves of ahouse 
or the letter T, or painted with some adhesive or repellant substance, 
as tar, &c. The larve descending the tree, being unable to climb over 
the inclosure, would change into helpless pup within the box, where 
they could daily be destroyed by thousands. Those hiding within the 
crevices of the bark of the trunk could easily be syringed from their 
hiding places.” (U.S. Agricultural Report, 1870, pp. 73, 74.) These 
boxes were carefully tested at this Department, and they worked as 
described. While coal-tar and other adhesives were recommended, we 
have found scalding-hot water most convenient for destroying the in- 
sects that accumulate in the inclosure or upon the ground elsewhere. 
Where branches are low and droop near the ground some of the larve 
descend the wrong way and fall off, but shade trees should not be al- 
lowed to grow in this low, drooping manner, and under all ordinary 
circumstances, where the branches are not severely jarred to encour- 
age the insects to drop, the larve will descend by the trunk and be- 
come captured in the devices here noticed. 
