IMPORTANT PECAN INSECTS AND THEIR CONTROL. 



47 



A- -*ated before, the beetles begin to make their appearance in the 

 ii orchards about the last of August, and they may be found 

 continuing their girdling operation until cold weather. 



CONTROL MEASURES. 





r the control of this pest all that is necessary is to gather the 

 .-I'd branches and burn them in the fall or whiter. Care should 

 i to collect all branches from the ground, as well as 

 ^ that may be lodged in the trees. By following this pro- 

 cedure all the eggs and larvae which would otherwise develop into 

 * he folio whig summer will be destroyed, and thus the source 

 of infestation will be eliminated. Pecan orchards that are growing 

 adjacent to native hickory or persimmon 

 trees will be found to be worst infested, 

 aise, as has been stated, this insect 

 breeds abundantly in the severed branches 

 of such trees. Under such conditions it 

 would pay, perhaps, to destroy the 

 branches cut from the hickory and per- 

 simmon trees immediately adjacent to 

 commercial plantings of pecans. 



THE OAK PRUXER.1 



During the fall and winter twigs or 

 branches pruned by the larva? or grubs 

 of the dark-brown beetle known as the 

 pruner (fig. 58) are to be found 

 under pecan trees, as well as under 

 oak, hickory, and various other forest, 

 shade, and fruit trees. This insect 

 does not especially favor the pecan, 

 but seems to show a preference for vari- 

 ous oaks. Although this insect occurs 

 from New England westward to Michi- 

 gan and southward to the Gulf States, it is seen too rarely in suf- 

 ficient numbers in its extreme southern distribution to be ranked as 

 rious pest. In the North, however, serious injuries are sometimes 

 caused by its pernicious pruning habits. 



In the case of the pecan twig-girdler the twigs are cut off by the 

 female beetle, but with the oak pruner the larvae amputate the 

 branches by gnawing a circular groove hi the wood, leaving only the 

 bark intact. The branches so amputated are usually brought to 

 the ground by the first strong wind, or, in some instances no doubt, 

 by the weight of the branch itself. The end of the severed branch 

 -ents a smoothly cut surface (see fig. 58), near the center of 



FIG. 5S. The oak pruner (Elaphidion 

 villosii'm'): a, Larva; 6, adult; pruned 

 twig and larval mines at right. 



ElaplMion nllosum Fab. 



