INSECTS AFFECTING PARK AND WOODLAND TREES c^c 



larvae of these two species cannot be separated, though the young of this 

 form appear to excrete the milky fluid more freely than its ally. 'Ihe 

 parent insect may be recognized by its red color 

 above and conspicuous black markings, and were it 

 not for its rather elongated, pear-shaped form, it 

 might be mistaken for a lady- 

 beetle. This insect feeds on 

 j^M^IT^^. willows and poplars and appar- 



'***^ **i^^ ^"^ ently has very similar habits to 

 those of M. scripta Fabr. 

 Mr Chittenden states that in 

 some seasons it is just as abun- 

 dant as the more injurious Cot- 

 tonwood leaf beetle. Mr F. W. 



Hubbard recorded it as being destructive to willows at 

 Lyons N. Y. in 1902. It has been reported as gener- 

 ally distributed in New Jersey by Dr Smith, who also gives alder as a 

 food plant. 



Remedial measures. This species, like its ally, is a leaf feeder and can 

 be controlled by a thorough application of a poisoned spray. 



leaf 



Fir. 140 Spotted 

 beetle, .M e I a s o m a lap 

 ponic.i, southern form, fiv< 

 times natural size. (Aftei 

 Chittenden, U. S. Dep'i 

 Agric. Bur. For. Bui. 46. 

 1904) 



Fig. 139 Me laser 

 common New 

 larged (original) 



Melasoma tremulae Fabr. 

 This species is very closely allied to M. scripta Fabr. 

 Tt may be recognized by its brownish, finely punc- 



\tured elytra, and greenish head and thorax. This form 

 is exceedinglyab undant and injurious in the northwest- 

 ern states writes Dr Lugger, who adds that it sometimes 

 strips the leaves from willows of Minnesota windbreaks. 

 Fis.,4, .MeiLoma trem- ^^ ranks it asuext to M. scripta Fabr. in economic 

 uue enlarged (original) importance. Thls specics was taken by Mr D. B. Young 

 at Newport N. Y. in 1898, where it was stripping the leaves from small 

 poplars and willows. 



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