A DESTRUCTIVE BEETLE — A WARNING TO NURSERYMEN, ETC. 4I5 



and that means will at once be taken to prevent a repetition of this 

 oversight. In this particular case twenty-five Carolina poplars 

 were killed in the shipment coming to Minnesota last spring. While 

 this tree may not be an elegant shade tree .from the standpoint of 

 horticulturists, it is valuable as a quick grower and particularly at- 



The willow beetle once and one-half enlarged. 



tractive to those desiring windbreaks for this reason. This beetle 

 attacks, as is evident from the above, this tree as well as willow, 

 balm of gilead, poplar, alder and sometimes, it is claimed, the birch. 

 In Massachusetts by destroying large numbers of balm of gileads and 

 willows it seriously threatened the business of the nurserymen about 

 1898 or 1899. and a little later it was found in Ohio; now we have 

 it in North Dakota and, probably, in Minnesota. 



Work of willow beetle on Carolina poplar. 



This beetle is dark brown, about half an inch long, with a long 

 snout, belonging to the so-called snout beetles, or weevils, has a con- 

 spicuous white patch on the rear part of its back, and some whitish 

 ones on its sides near its head. It makes a hole in the poplar stem 

 or trunk, lays an egg therein, and the larva hatching bores under the 

 back and later into the solid wood. Young nursery trees are easily 

 killed by this pest. When only a branch or a stem is affected it 

 can be cut off in June with the contained worm and burned with 



