C6 
It burrows mainly just beneath the bark, where it can be found and 
destroyed in fall or early spring. It comes to maturity in May or 
June, eats its way nearly thru the bark, and pupates there. We 
collected the adult in considerable numbers, at electric lights, in Ur- 
bana, from May i8 to June 3, 1887. When ready for its transfor- 
mation the pupa wriggles partly out of its burrow, and the adult 
insect escaping leaves the empty pupa-case still sticking in the open- 
ing, which is about an eighth of an inch across. (Fig. 37, (/. ) 
. The adult is a handsome wasplike moth (Fig. 37, c; Fig. 38) 
■with thin transparent wings, a slender yellow body banded and 
trimmed with red, and a brushlike tuft of hairs at the tip of the 
Fig. 38. Maple Borer, Sesia acenii, adult. About 3 times 
natural size. 
abdomen. The eggs are laid chiefly in rough or injured places, al- 
most wholly in the trunk of the tree, and not in its branches. The 
effect of the injury is to kill the bark undermined, and to enlarge 
surface wounds and prevent their healing, converting them into 
permanent, rough, and very unsightly scars. Sometimes the tree 
is killed by a girdling of the trunk. 
To prevent attack by these borers the tree should be protected 
from injury, and such wounds as it receives should be painted over 
or covered with grafting wax. Dr. Felt, State Entomologist of 
New York, says that "the deposition of eggs could probably be pre- 
vented to considerable extent by treating the trunks of trees about 
the middle of May with a wash prepared as follows : Thin one 
gallon of soft soap with an equal amount of hot water and stir in 
one pint of crude carbolic acid (one-half pint, refined), let it set 
over night and then add eight gallons of soft water. Apply thor- 
oughly to the trunk, especially about all crevices and wounds, from 
the ground to about six or eight feet high, and renew if necessary 
before the middle of June." As the borers work near the surface, 
they can be easily dug out and destroyed in fall. 
