86 SMALL FRUIT CULTURIST. 



destructive to the leaves of the plants, frequently strip- 

 ping a plantation of its foliage in a few days. I have 

 since ascertained that these worms are the larvae of the 

 Emphytus maculatus of Norton, a small black fly, figure 

 26. This worm has received the common name of 

 " Strawberry Worm," and appears to have become abun- 

 dant throughout the Northern States, and really more 

 destructive to strawberry plantations in the West than at 

 the East. Prof. Eiley figured and described this insect 

 in vol. 1, page 90, of the American Entomologist. The 

 worms are of a yellowish-green color, a little over a 

 half inch long, and when feeding are usually curled up, 

 with the extremity of the body hanging down, as shown 



Fig. 26. FLY OF THE STRAWBERRY Fig. 27. STRAWBERRY 



WORM ENLARGED. WORM. 



in figure 27. The parent fly appears in our Northern 

 States early in May, and, as I have said, is of a black 

 color, with two rows of transverse whitish spots upon the 

 abdomen. The female deposits her eggs in the leaf stalks, 

 first puncturing them by means of a saw-like instrument 

 with which she is provided, and thrusting her eggs into 

 the wounds thus made. The eggs hatch in a few days, 

 and the young grubs immediately attack the leaves. 

 When fully grown they descend into the ground, roll 

 themselves up in a slender cocoon, the pupa remaining 

 within until the following spring. Dusting the leaves 

 with lime, when wet with dew, or just after a shower, is 

 the best method with which I am acquainted for destroy- 

 ing the pest. 



