188 Insect Pests. 



this row of tubercles there are three spots on each side which are 

 mother-of-pearl white, the surrounding area being reddish ; these 

 spots become golden, then red ; the thorax is reddish ; the abdomen 

 ochreous, grizzled with black. They are attached to the twigs and 

 leaves upon which they feed. 



TREATMENT is seldom called for, but if they are very abundant 

 the colonies should be collected when young and the mature larvae 

 might be poisoned with arsenates. All egg-masses should be 

 destroyed. 



REFERENCES. 



(1) TascJienberg, E. L. ' Praktische Insekten-kunde,' III., p. 2 (1880). 



(2) Kalteribacli, J. H. ' Die Pflanzenfeinde Insekten,' p. 183 (1874). 



(3) Ormerod, E. A. ' Handbook of Insects Injurious to Orchard and Bush 



Fruits,' p. 50 (1898). 



(4) Buckler, W. ' Larvae of British Butterflies and Moths,' vol. I., p. 54 (1886). 



THE CHERRY AND PLUM TREE BORER. 

 (Semasia woebericma. Schiff.*) 



This insect frequently occurs in the Sittingbourne area in cherry 

 trees. Mr. F. Smith of Loddington informs me it also occurs in the 

 Maidstone region. Stainton (2) says it is widely distributed in 

 Britain and generally common. 



The original note sent me concerning this pest was in 1897, and 

 was recorded in the Board of Agriculture Journal (1). It was then 

 stated " that for two or three years a couple of cherry trees, planted 

 about nine years ago, did not make the progress they should have 

 done, and upon close examination little brown deposits were found 

 at the bottom of the trees on the bark ; larvae were discovered. 

 Numerous other trees were seen with deposits near the ground, and 

 it was feared the pest might be spreading." 



This was the record of an attack at Eodmersham, near Sitting- 

 bourne. It has continued to some extent in Eodmersham to the 

 present time. Mr. Mercer wrote again in 1906 sending " specimens 

 of insects that are doing an immense amount of harm to our cherry 

 trees in the neighbourhood by boring into the bark of the trunk 

 of the tree, and causing large swellings, finally destroying the trees 

 after a few years." 



In 1906 Mr. Lewis Levy of Borden Hall, near Sittingbourne, 



* The synonymy of this species is as follows : Semasia ornatana, Hb. ; 

 Tort rix ornatana, Hb. ; G. woeberana, Haw. D. L. ; G. wcberana, "Wd. 



