INSECTS AFFECTING PARK AND WOODLAND TREES 28-5 



beetles, and tlie bark at least destroyed b\- Ijurnins^r. Clean culture, which 

 in this instance would mean the removal of dyin<^- or dead limbs or injured 

 trees, would do much towards preventing injury, as it will natural!)' tend to 

 reduce the numbers of this pest. 



Bibliography 

 1897 Chittenden, F. H. U. S. Dep't Agric. Div. Ent. Cir. 24. 2 ser. p. i-8 

 1S97 U. b. Dep't Agric. Div. Ent. Uul. 7, n. s. p. 67-71 



Thorn Umb borer 



Sapcrda fayi Bland 

 Oval swellings with four to five longitudinal scars occurring on the small limbs and 

 stems of wild thorn, are the work of this species. 



This little borer is local and badly infested thorntrees may be only a 

 short distance from others entirely free from attack. It appears to be 

 widely distributed in New York State, and should this species, like its 

 allies, acquire a taste for cultivated fruit trees it would probably not be a 

 dangerous enemy, as its galls indicate the presence of the borer and they 

 could easily be cut of¥ in time to destroy the contained insects. 



Life history. The beetles appear during the last week in May or the 

 first of June at Allegheny Pa., the males preceding the females by three or 

 four days. They do not appear to eat and are short-lived, the whole brood, 

 excepting stragglers, emerging and disappearing within about 10 or 12 

 days. The insects fly but little and usually oviposit on the same tree they 

 inhabited as borers and drop to the ground and conceal themselves when- 

 ever disturbed. Oviposition probably occurs at night, and limbs from '3' 

 to ij^ inches in diameter are selected. Three to si.x longitudinal incisions 

 about y^ inch long, equally distant and parallel one to another, are made 

 through the bark and an ^^<g placed in each. The larva bores underneath 

 the outer layer of the wood for a distance of perhaps 'g inch and uses this 

 as a retreat from which it feeds on diseased wood caused by the incision. 

 The gnawing of the larvae results in an increased flow of sap and the 

 development of the gall. The borers are about '4 inch in length at the 



