46 



periods, and metamorphoses, and as much in their 

 choice of food. No one ever reared the JEgeria exi- 

 tiosa from the apple-tree borer, nor could the latter 

 subsist in the peach-tree. Certain species of borers 

 are confined absolutely to one species of plant, while 

 other species live indiscriminately upon several plants 

 of the same natural family ; but there are few or none 

 which exceed these limits. The borer of the apple- 

 tree, or, in other words, the striped Saperda* lives, in 

 the larva state, within the trunks of several pome- 

 bearing plants, such as the apple-tree, quince,t medlar, 

 and the near allies of the last, the June-berry and 

 choke-berry bush, with other species of Aronia. In- 

 digenous plants of this last genus are its natural food, 

 the perfect insects being found upon their leaves, and 

 the larvae in their stems. This Saperda, after its final 

 change, leaves the trunks of the trees to fulfill the last 

 injunctions of nature. It is then furnished with ample 

 wings beneath its striped shells, that give to it con- 

 siderable powers of flight, which it does not fail to use 

 in searching for the tender leaves and fruits of plants, 

 upon which for a short period it subsists, in seeking 

 a mate, and in selecting a proper place for the depo- 

 sition of its eggs. Many orchards suffer from the ne- 

 glect of their proprietors ; the trees are permitted to 

 remain, year after year, without any pains being taken 

 to destroy the numerous and various insects that infest 

 them ; old orchards, especially, are overlooked, and not 

 only the rugged trunks of the trees, but even a forest 

 of unpruned suckers around them, are left to the undis- 



* Saperda hivittata. Say. 



t Also the Hawthorn and Mountain Ash, of the same family. 



