210 



Insect Pests. 



caterpillars spread out over the bushes and devour the foliage whole- 

 sale. The larva? shown in the accompanying photograph reach when 

 mature about 1 inch. In colour they are creamy-white, spotted and 

 marked with black and with orange-yellow at the sides. About the 

 end of June the larva? are ready to pupate. They then fix themselves 

 by a small mass of silk at the tail end to a leaf or twig or to any 

 substance near the bush, and change in a delicate cocoon to a black 

 pupa with three golden-yellow rings to the body. From this con- 

 spicuous pupa the adult appears iu July and August. 



PREVENTION AND TREATMENT. 



Xeedless to say all the debris of dead leaves should be " flared " 

 out of the plantation, in dry weather, where this pest is prevalent. 

 This may easily be done by a paraffin torch. 



[A. V. D. Rintoul. 



FIG. 161. ICHNEUMON COCOONS FROM CATERPILLAR OF MAGPIE MOTH. 



Ground beneath infested bushes should be well prong-hoed in late 

 winter, and a heavy dressing of soot and lime will often be found 

 beneficial. Some growers have found that smearing cart-grease or 

 Stockholm tar around the stems in early spring has prevented the 

 larvre that have left the bushes from returning. Whitehead records 

 this as having been particularly successful in Gloucester after an 

 attack in 1881. These preventive methods are well worth con- 



