SS SECOND ANNUAL REPORT OP 



r^jj^O assumed the pupa form represented at Figure 62, but 

 in all probability they transform within the root, when 

 in more natural conditions. This change takes place 

 towards the end of June, and the perfect beetle ap- 

 pears in about three weeks afterwards. 



Soon after breeding this beetle from Grape-feed- 

 ing borers, I bred a female of the same species from a 

 very large borer which I had found the same spring, in 

 an apple root, it having entirely killed a young apple 

 tree, by hollowing out nearly all the roots, and by 

 finally severing the tap root near the butt of the tree. 

 Thus it results that the Broad-necked Prionus 

 bores in the larva state indiscriminately in the roots 

 of the Grape-vine and Apple, and perhaps in those of the closely allied 

 Pear. According to Harris it also infests the roots of different kinds 

 of poplars, and it is consequently a pretty general feeder. 



Few persons are really aware of the amount of damage these gi- 

 gantic borers are capable of causing. Last March I received a long 

 letter from Mr. Robert S. Munford, of Munfordsville, Ky., minutely 

 describing this borer, and the manner in which it destroj^ed three 

 hundred dollars' worth of his apple trees; while Mr. C. R. Edwards, 

 of Bowling Green, Ky., writes that they have been quite injurious to 

 his grape-vines of all varieties, though his Ionas suffered most from 

 their attacks. Mr. Emory S. Foster, of Bushburg, sent me a specimen 

 in May with the statement that it cut off a vine, after the fall of the 

 leaf, and then went some six inches further down, and entered the 

 main root, making for itself a comfortable residence where it spent 

 the winter. Messrs. Bush and Spaulding inform me that they are con- 

 tinually losing vines from this borer, and that they consider it one of 

 the worst enemies they have to contend against. 



Little can be done to prevent the ravages of these underground 

 borers after they are once'in a vine, the death of which is usually the 

 only manifestation of their presence. Still, every vine-grower should 

 make it a rule to search for them whenever he finds vines suddenly 

 dying from any unknown cause, and upon finding such a borer should 

 at once put an end to its existence. The beetles, which may often be 

 found during the summer and fall months, and which not unfrequently 

 rush with heavy, naisy flight, into our lighted rooms, should also be 

 ruthlessly sacrificed whenever met with. As I shall presently show, 

 however, much may be done by judicious management to prevent 

 their getting into the vines. 



