INSECTS. 41 



. destroys 



borer just described, and, like it, injures and often destroys 

 young apple-trees by eating the sapwood so as frequently 

 to girdle the trees. Fig. 29, a, shows this insect in 

 the grub or larva state, b in the perfect or winged- 

 beetle state. The grub is yellowish white, soft and 

 footless, broad and flattened near the head, 

 rapidly tapering toward the other extremity. Its 

 jaws are a deep black, and highly polished. The 

 head is blackish brown, and nearly concealed by 

 the second segment or ring. The beetle has a 

 rough, uneven surface, of a blackish brown colour, 

 with something of a coppery lustre, but the under 

 side looks like burnished copper, extending down 

 the legs to the feet, which are of a deep, shining 

 green. The eggs are deposited in the crevices of the bark, on 

 the trunk and larger branches ; from these the grubs are hatched, 

 and eat their way through the bark to the sapwood. Here it 

 makes an excavation in the wood directly under the bark, 

 increasing the size of the chamber with its age. When fully 

 grown it bores into the soHd heart of the tree, where it remains 

 during its quiescent state, and comes out, in the end of June or 

 early in July, a perfect beetle. This one loves to bask in the 

 sun, and may be found on the trunks of the trees when the sun 

 is hottest. 



The application of soft soap to the trunk and larger branches, 

 or of the solution of potash mentioned before, will be effectual 

 to prevent these borers from getting into the trees. Alkaline 

 solutions destroy the eggs and kill the young grubs while yet in 

 the bark. But, if the grubs have reached the sapwood, the only 

 way of making sure of their destruction is to hunt them out with 

 a knife and put them to deatL Their presence can be readily 

 detected by the discoloration of the bark, that portion directly 

 over their burrow being both flattened and dead. Young 

 orchards should be thoroughly examined two or three times a 

 year, and well rubbed -with soft soap or washed with the potash 

 eolution. 



