88 INSECT PESTS 



as serious as the midges and sawflies, and I am almost 

 loth to include it as a pest. At the same time it is com- 

 mon throughout England, and leaf -eaters can do a lot of 

 harm if left unchecked. (See Plates 19 and 26.) 



The moth, which appears in September, measures about 

 I J inches across the forewings, which are leaden brown 

 in colour, with a mother-of-pearl gloss, and contain the 

 curious white marks like figures of eight. The hind wings 

 are dingy brown with a black blotch on the lower angle. 



The caterpillar, which is full-fed in June, feeds naturally 

 on the whitethorn, and also on blackthorn, allied to the 

 plum botanically, and is grey-green with yellow stripes 

 at the side. 



The eggs are laid on the shoots in September, whence 

 they may be removed if observed, and hand picking in 

 the case of dwarf trees would come in. The measures 

 adopted with the soil at the base for other pests would 

 serve to deal with the pupae which would be found there 

 during the summer months. 



We must now turn our attention to bush fruit. 



Here there is a very wide field and pests seem to be 

 even more troublesome than in the case of large trees. 

 The cause for this is, I beHeve, the reduction of the 

 natural flora by the increase of cultivated areas. In 

 most cases our only method of meeting the situation, at 

 present, is to carry the war straight into the enemy's 

 camp, so here goes. 



Let us take the raspberry first of all. This plant is 

 aUied to the bramble and the dewberry among our wild 

 fruits of the Rubus family, with which indeed crosses 

 have been made. It may be taken as a fairly certain 

 rule that where an insect feeds upon the wild relative it 

 may also be found upon the cultivated fruit, and half 

 the battle is to look for these things in advance. 



The Raspberry Moth {Lampronia rubiella), whose larva 

 is known as the Stem-bud Caterpillar, is most destructive 



