ONE HUNDRED THOUSAND FACTS FOR THE PEOPLE. 407- 



covers are of a bright mahogany-brown, 

 marked, as in the illustration (/), with 

 white, and the head and thorax are of a 

 bright shining green. In cabinet speci- 

 mens these colors fade, and the general 

 tint is more yellowish or rust-colored. 

 Very soon after the appearance of the 

 beetle the stems and branches of the 

 plants named, if carefully examined, will 

 be found more or less covered with little 

 elongate pellets of excrement, (b, b), 



s 



Fig. 48. — Blepharida Rhois. 



a ' e gg > ^> ^> e gg masses covered with excre- 

 ment ; c , c, c, c, larvae ; d, cocoon ; e, pupa ; /, 

 beetle : g, h, i, j, k, I, mouth parts of larvae. 



dark when fresh, but becoming paler and 

 grayish-brown when dry. These pellets 

 are sometimes so numerous as to form one 

 large mass, completely covering the stem 

 or branch; at other times, especially 

 when on the leaf or leaf-stem, they are 

 single. If more critically examined, they 

 will each be found to contain five or six 

 pale yellow eggs (a), mostly laid side by 

 side, and separated from the excrement by 

 a thin papery layer of a whitish, opaque 

 substance. These eggs give birth, in a 

 very few days, to little dark yellow worms 

 with a conspicuous black head, and shiny 

 plate on the first joint, six long, black, 

 thoracic legs, and a pale anal proleg. 

 Remedies.— The Smoke-tree may be 



protected from the injuries of this insect 

 by jarring the beetles, in early spring, 

 into pans of water, or by strewing the 

 ground lightly with straw, then starting a 

 ring of fire on the outside, and jarring 

 the beetles into it. If the worms have 

 been allowed to hatch, the Paris-green 

 mixture will soon dispose of them. 



OAK PRUNER.— This is a long- 

 horned brownish beetle which cuts 

 off the branches of oak, apple,, 

 peach, hickory, and chesnut. This 

 beetle, which is known as the "oak- 

 pruner," does not make the incision from 

 the outside of the branch, like the twig- 

 girdler, but the larva cuts the twig from 

 the inside. The egg is deposited in 

 July, on a twig near the extremity or 

 a branch. The larva when hatched pene- 

 trates into the wood, and forms a cylindri- 

 cal burrow several inches in length in the 

 interior of the branch, and, when full 

 grown, eats away parts of the wood 

 of the branch in which it resides, 

 from the inside, leaving only the 

 bark untouched, so that these branches ' 

 are broken off in autumn by the first 

 strong wind, and fall to the earth with 

 the larvae yet in them. Professor Peck 

 considered that this was done in order 

 that the branch might retain sufficient 

 moisture from lying on the damp ground 

 to enable the pupa and insect to be per- 

 fectly developed. 



Remedy. — If this insect should fn- 

 crease so as to become very injurious, it 

 may readily be destroyed by gathering up 

 all fallen branches under the trees in win- 

 ter or spring, before the perfect beetle is 

 developed, and burning them immediately. 

 If such fallen branches are examined in 

 early spring, they will be found to con- 

 tain either pupa? or perfect beetles, which 

 if not destroyed, would, next season^ 

 deposit eggs on the neighboring trees. 



APPLE TWIG BORER— These in- 

 sects measure from .25 to .35 of an inch 

 in length, and are small, dark chesnut- 

 colored beetles, of a cylindrical form,, 

 having the front part of the thorax 

 roughened with elevated points, the male 

 having two little horns, and the tip of 

 the wing covers above provided with two 

 prickle-like points curving inward. At- 

 tacks apple, pear, hickory, and cherry 

 trees, and also grape vines, by boring 

 into the twigs and young branches. It is. 



