38 INSECTS AFFECTING VEGETATION 



plished either by picking up the drops every few days, or by main- 

 taining enough livestock beneath infested trees to keep the drops 

 cleaned up. 



The Apple Red Bug. The adult Red Bug is about */4 inch 

 long. The general color varies from red to nearly black ; usually the 

 thorax is black in front and red behind. The wings are red, usually 

 black along the inner edge and with a pointed ovate black spot near 

 the outer margin. The principal injury is caused by the punctures 

 in the young fruit. The apples are then very small and the four 

 sharp bristles of the bug's back penetrate quite to the center. The 

 results of our experiments show that the young nymphs may be 

 killed by an application of Black-leaf tobacco extract diluted 1 to 65, 

 or Black-leaf 40 diluted 1 to 800 that is, about 1 ounce in 6 gallons 

 of water or % pint in a barrel of 50 gallons. The efficiency of this 

 spray is increased by the addition of about 2 pounds of soap to each 

 50 gallons. The majority of the eggs of the Red Bug hatch after 

 the opening of the leaves of the fruit buds and before the blossoms 

 open. The first application should be made just before the blossoms 

 open and while the nymphs are small, soft, and tender. (Bui. 101, 

 B. of E. U. S. Dept. Agr. ; Cir. 14, New Hamp. Exp. Sta. ; Bui. 291, 

 Cornell Exp. Sta.) 



Plum Curculio. This pest infests the apple, causing a great 

 many knotty apples. (For description see the Plum Insects.) 



The Apple Plant Louse. The insects appear with the foliage, 

 and where they are at all numerous the leaves begin to curl, and 

 growth is checked in early summer. The aphids excrete a sweet, 

 sticky liquid. The females are of a uniform velvety green, sluggish 

 in motion, and rather more than one-twentieth of an inch in length. 

 The males are smaller, much more active, and dull yellowish-green 

 in color. The eggs are large in proportion to the insects, dark -green 

 in color when laid, becoming black in two or three days. They are 

 regular, rather elongate-oval in shape, and smooth, shining. The 

 apple plant louse hatches from the egg as soon as the buds begin to 

 develop in early spring. In about fifteen days a stem-mother be- 

 comes developed and begins to reproduce. Spray with Black Leaf 

 1-65, or Black Leaf 401-840, or 10% Kerosene Emulsion. Bui. 193, 

 N. J. Exp. Sta.) 



The Canker Worm. Two species of canker-worms in the United 

 States, the spring canker-worm and the fall canker-worm, are often 

 very troublesome pests in apple orchards, infesting also the elm, 

 cherry, and to a less degree, a few other trees. The life history and 

 habits of the fall canker-worm practically parallel those of the spring 

 species. The females of both species are wingless, hence their dis- 

 semination is very slow. These canker-worms are green or brown, 

 more or less striped with longitudinal lines. Just back of the head 

 are six legs with pointed claws, and near the posterior end of the 

 body are four or six other legs, different in form. When the cater- 

 pillar crawls the middle of the body assumes the shape of a hump or 

 loop; on account of this these insects are called looping caterpillars 

 or measuring worms. 



