222 Peach-Growing 



preventing largely the wounds in the skin of the fruit through 

 which the fungus enters. 



Peach-tree borer (Sanninoidea exitiosa) 



This borer is one of the most serious and destructive 

 insects with which peach-growers have to contend. 



Appearance. 



The adult insect is a moth somewhat resembling a wasp. 

 The general color is steel-blue, but the two sexes differ 

 considerably. In the male the wings are transparent, 

 with a spread of from | inch to li inches. The female is 

 somewhat larger, with the wings transparent in part only. 



The insect is more familiar to the peach-grower in the 

 form of the "worm" or larva than in the adult form, since 

 it is in the worm or borer stage that all its damage is done. 

 It attacks the tree at or near the surface of the ground, 

 working under the bark, where it seriously weakens the tree, 

 which, if girdled, as frequently happens, will of course die. 

 Trees of all ages from those in the nurseries to the old wrecks 

 in the abandoned orchards are subject to attack, forty or fifty 

 borers sometimes working at the same time in a mature tree. 



Distribution. 



This insect is a native species and occurs in Canada and 

 throughout the United States east of the Rocky Mountains 

 wherever peaches are grown. Occurrence west of the moun- 

 tains has been reported, but its establishment is not certain. 



Life history and habits. 



The adult moth makes its first appearance about July 1 

 in the North, but the period of maximum emergence appears 



