FARMERS 
BULLETIN 
Wasuincton, D.C. 675 Juny 6,-1915. 
Contribution from the Bureau of Entomology, L. O. Howard, Chief. 
THE ROUNDHEADED APPLE-TREE BORER.’ 
By Frep E. Brooks, 
Entomological Assistant, Deciduous Fruit Insect Investigations. 
INTRODUCTION. 
Several species of insects occur in the United States that in their 
larval or grub stage injure apple trees by boring into the bark and 
wood. The most destructive of these, in the eastern half of the coun- 
try, is the roundheaded apple-tree borer. The borers of this species 
hatch from eggs de- 
posited by a rather 2 
large beetle in or ae 
under the bark of 
the trees, usually 
near to the ground, | ‘ 
and feed to such an 
extent on the inner 
bark and wood that S 
the trees are greatly ‘ 
weakened and often \ 
die as a direct result 
of the injury Trees Fic, 1.—Distribution of the roundheaded apple-tree borer 
; (Saperda candida). (Original.) 
. ; SD NS 
\\\ rs 
NN ESS <i 
ies 
NS 
of all sizes are -at- 
tacked, but those from 3 to 10 years old suffer most. As the borers 
feed they throw out, through small holes which they make in the 
bark, sawdustlike castings of a reddish color. (Fig. 11.) Heaps of 
these castings found at the base of apple, pear, or quince trees are 
Notr.—This bulletin describes an insect which in the larval or grub stage is most 
destructive to apple orchards in the eastern half of the United States. (See fig. 1.) 
Methods for its control are given. 
1 Saperda candida Fab.; order Coleoptera, family Cerambycide, 
95003°—Bull. 675—15 1 
