INSECTS INJURIOUS TO FOREST TREES. 179 



they have a choice. I have seen oaks in Worcestershire com- 

 pletely stripped of their leaves by the voracious vermin. The 

 grubs of several species of Curculio, or weevil, are also very 

 destructive to the roots of trees, and the best means for destroying 

 them, and all grubs or larvse that prey upon the roots of trees, is 

 to thoroughly saturate the soil infested by them with a strong 

 dose of lime-water, ammoniacal liquor, or salt and water. The 

 last is generally found to be the most efficient, but caution must 

 be used not to apply it too strong to tender-rooted or valuable 

 trees. Many other beetles and weevils, which are more or less 

 injiu-ious to trees, might be mentioned, if time permitted, but I 

 must pass on to notice some of the most destructive of the moth 

 or butterfly family. 



The goat moth (Cossus Ugrwp&rda) is not only one of the largest 

 British moths, but also one of the most destructive to timber trees, 

 attacking the trunks of the oak, lime, walnut, willow, and others 

 the caterpillars perforating the wood with holes or tunnels large 

 enough to admit the finger ; and when the insects are numerous, 

 the trees attacked often fall a sacrifice to their ravages. I have 

 seen many trees completely riddled by them in the midland and 

 southern counties of England, especially poplars and willows, for 

 the soft wood of which they seem to have a preference ; but they 

 have no reluctance to attack the hardest oaks and walnut, and 

 bore holes right through them, making the perforated timber 

 utterly worthless for any useful purpose. 



The leopard moth (Zeuzera cescidi) is similar in its habits, and 

 nearly as large, as the goat moth, and its caterpillar is a deter- 

 mined borer into the trunks of willow, poplar, and birch, render- 

 ing the timber worthless, and often fatally injuring the trees. 

 The workings of these large caterpillars are easily detected, and 

 when they are observed, a good plan for destroying the caterpillars 

 is to run a wire into the holes, twisting it about so as to crush 

 them, or to blow the fumes of sulphur into the holes, which is 

 fatal to the insects. 



The moths, Tortrix turionana, resinella, buoliana and hircyni- 

 ana, are almost as injurious to pine trees as the pine beetle. They 

 deposit their eggs in the buds, and when the caterpillars are 

 hatched they eat the buds and pith of the shoots, similar to the 

 pine beetle, only it works upwards and they work downwards. 

 They are not very numerous in this country, but if ever they be- 

 come plentiful they will be extremely injurious. The larva of the 



