THE PEACH AND THI NECTARINE ] 339 



Lin , Lyda nemoralis Lin., Cerostoma persicella Schiff., 

 Recurvaria vanella Hb., Hibernia dejotiatia Lin. and 

 Cheimatobia brumata Lin., this last destroying also the 

 flower-buds in winter and early spring. 



Ants are attracted on the tree by the honey dew 

 exuded by Aphids, or to suck the glands at the base of 

 the foliage, and they finish by paying attention to the fruit 

 as it approaches maturity. They practice small holes 

 in the peel through which they reach the pulp, tunnelling 

 into the fruit in all directions. The havoc caused by 

 ants is sometines serious, and owing to their known 

 persistence it is difficult to keep them off without the use 

 of sprays which would communicate an unpleasant scent 

 also to the fruit. The best way to deal with these insects 

 consists in first shaking well the tree to cause them to 

 descend and then putting a ring of cotton wool charged 

 with turpentine or tar around the stem to prevent them 

 from climbing up again. 



The small green wasp Polities gallica Lin. corrodes 

 the leaves to make the paste with which to build its nest, 

 and it also visits the ripe fruit along with other two wasps 

 Vespa Crabro Lin. and V. vulgaris Lin. The large black 

 wasp Xtiocopa, violacea Lin also occasionally visits the 

 fruit of peach and nectarine to suck their juices. 



The two beetles Scolytus pruni Ratz. and S. rugu- 

 losus Ratz. make tunnels in the stems of the peach in 

 several European countries, but the only wood borer 

 which attacks our trees is the small beetle Bostrychus 

 dispar Fb. This beetle is met with more frequently on 

 the stems and branches of the almond growing on 

 irrigated land, and so tar it is known to attack the peach 

 when newly transplanted or if the tree is weakened 

 through other causes. The attack usually takes place in 

 autumn or winter and is always a severe one, the soft 

 wood under the bark being entirely eaten up and tunnelled 

 by the small white larvae of the insect, and there is nothing 

 else to do but to remove the tree at once and burn it. 



