THE APPLE TREE DESTROYER 55 



CHAPTER LXXIV. 



THE APPLE TREE DESTROYER. 



(Prosops pedisequus, BucktonJ) 



Sub-Order : Homoptera. 



Some time since my attention was directed to certain 

 apple and other trees which were being rapidly destroyed, 

 owing to some obscure insect having perforated both the 

 npper part of the stem and branches. The locality from 

 which I received the information was the Gonlbnrn 

 Valley, situated about fifteen miles from Numurkah. 

 Upon receipt of this information I at once started for 

 the purpose of ascertaining, if at all possible, some 

 particulars of the culprits doing the mischief, also to 

 devise some remedial measures. 



I found the tree a fairly large one to have been 

 perforated in all directions ; and, upon folding over a 

 piece of bark, found that the punctures, which had been 

 used for egg laying, were plainly visible, as our plate 

 shows, with the eggs in each puncture as shown in 

 Figure 1. Amongst the branches certain small insects 

 were captured ; but, as it afterwards turned out, these 

 were not the real culprits. 



In the month of January, a well-known orchardist of 

 Balwyn, Mr. Fankhauser, senior, called upon me with 

 specimens of some of his trees which had been badly 

 infested with what afterwards proved to be a homop- 

 terous insect, and the damage done was identical with 

 that at Numurkah ; so I sent the specimens to the 

 well-known specialist, Mr. Buckton, in England, who 

 at once recognised it as a new insect, and named it as 

 above. 



This insect deposits its eggs, from six to eight in 

 number, in the punctures which it has made for the 



