576 AGRICULTURAL REPORT. 



t or grub of a long-homed beetle. The perfect beetle of the loctist borer 13 of a 

 medium size, and of a velvety black color, with transverse yellow bauds, one 

 of the yellow bauds forming a W ou the wing cases. The eggs are deposited 

 BCven or eight iu clusters in crevices of the bark. The larva; burrow into tho 

 bark, aud at first devour the soft inner substance ; they afterwards bore into 

 die sap-wood. These beautiful beetles may be found running up and down the 

 trunks of locusts, or feeding on the blossoms of golden rod and other plants. 

 Dr. Harris recommends "(he trees to be whitewashed or covered with a graft- 

 ing composition to prevent the female from depositing her eggs ;" but thia 

 b^ing almost impossible to any extent, he also says that "young trees attacked 

 should be he.idcd down to destroy the grubs in them, and the perfect beetles 

 should be sought for, gathered, and killed." Putting sulphur or calomel in an 

 auger hole bored in the trunk has no effect at all on the insects. Woodpeckers 

 and other birds, in this case and for other wood-boring larvaj, are the best rem- 

 edies we can recommend; and we have frequently observed that where the 

 indiscriminate shooting of small birds is permitted — nay, even sometimes en- 

 couraged — the locust trees bear full testimony to the fact iu their jagged, 

 broken, aud miserable appearance. 



There is also another long-horned beetle, about half an inch in length, called 

 tie oak pruner, which cuts off the branches of oak and sometimes of fruit trees. 

 The Qgg is deposited in June and July on the twig; the larvfe feed ou the 

 wood iu the interior of the branch, and finally gnaw the wood away trans- 

 versely from within, leaving only a strip of bark untouched : the branches 

 flius cut off fall to the ground in autumn, carrying the grubs with them, where, 

 protected by the moisture of the ground and dead leaves, they pass the winter. 

 In spring the pupae are formed, and the perfect insects appear in June and 

 July. To destroy this insect it is merely requisite to collect all the fallen 

 branches in the autumn aud burn them, when the insects within must neces- 

 sarily perish in the flames. 



When in Iowa some years ago we found a long-horned beetle, called the 

 Pfickhj Leptostylus, to be very destructive under the bark of apple trees. 

 SThe beetle is rather more than the third of an inch in length ; the larvce feed 

 under the bark ; the pupa3 are formed in oval nests of Avoody fibres, also under 

 the bark ; and the perfect insect comes out in July and August. The remedy 

 recommended is to examine the discolored places in the bark and cut out the 

 larvDD ; perhaps eoftsoaping the tree would prevent the female depositing her 

 ,^gs, as advised for the real apple borer. The larvae of several long-horned 

 beetles are very destructive to the wood of oak, maple, pine, fir, hemlock, aud 

 other trees ; but these wc shall pass over, as the remedies already mentioned 

 will also do for them. There is one, however, that must receive a short notice 

 as injuring the stems of raspberries and blackberries. This is the Oberca iri- 

 punctata, of Melsheimer'a catalogue. An egg being deposited singly in August 

 on the stem near a leaf or small twig, the larva when hatched burrows in the 

 pith and causes the stem to wither and die. To eradicate this insect all stems 

 affected should be immediately cut down and burned. 



The small leaf-eating beetles constitute another family, many of them being 

 veiy injurious to the horticulturist. Their larvae generally have well-devel- 

 Qped legs, and live upon leaves of plants and trees. The beetles are of a 

 Bliort, compressed form, of a small size, and mostly of clear bright colors. The 

 three-lined leaf beetle found on the potato, the striped cucumber beetle, the 

 steel-blue grape-vine beetle, and the minute flea beetle, belong to this ftimily. 

 The three-lined potato-leaf beetle deposits its eggs in clusters of six to eight 

 in June on the leaves of potatoes; the larvae are filthy looking yellowish grubs, 

 generally covered on tho back with slimy faeces or dirt. The pupa is formed 

 under the earth, and the perfect insects appear in July and August to lay the 

 eggs for a second generation, tho pupaa of which remain in the earth all winter. 



