504 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF PRACTICAL HORTICULTURE 



very serious pests, and, from their struc- 

 ture, mode of life, and feeding habits, 

 very difficult of control. Apples injured 

 or "railroaded" by the apple maggot show 

 discolored winding burrows, or tracks, 

 and cavities here and there in the flesh, 

 and when infested with several larvae 

 the pulp will be usually quite honey- 

 combed with their burrows and more or 

 less broken down into a yellowish mass, 

 merely held together by the skin. 



Vie. 1. Flies nf the Apiile Maemit. 

 a, Male ; b, female — enlarged. 



Distribution 



The apple maggot is a native Ameri- 

 can species, its natural food being haws 

 (Crataegus), and in at least one instance 

 it has been bred from crabapples. Its 

 feeding upon cultivated apples is thus an 

 acquired habit, and although the Insect 

 has been reported from widely separated 

 points in the Central and Eastern states, 

 indicating its possible general distribu- 

 tion, for some reason it does not attack 

 the apple throughout its range, but only 

 in certain localities and portions of the 

 country. Of apples, sweet and sub-acid 

 summer varieties are worst attacked, but 

 fall and winter sorts are also infested, 

 including distinctly acid varieties. 



Preventive Measures 



The apple maggot has proved to be an 

 unusually troublesome insect to combat 

 successfully. The eggs are deposited be- 

 neath the skin of the fruit, within which 

 also the larva feeds until full grown. The 

 pupal stage is passed just under the soil, 

 or around the roots of grass in sod land, 

 and the flies do not feed in a way to per- 

 mit of their destruction. Spraying with 

 arsenicals, so effective against the codling 

 moth or apple worm, is for this pest 

 quite useless. 



The insect, however, may be attacked 

 in two important ways. As stated, the 



larvae do not leave the fruit until the 

 latter has ripened and fallen to the 

 ground. The prompt gathering and de- 

 struction of the windfalls, before they 

 are deserted by the maggots, would serve 

 to keep the insects greatly reduced, 

 amounting to practical extermination if 

 thoroughly carried out. This practice 

 has long been recommended by entomo- 

 logists, and comprises the most effective 

 measure of controlling the pest at present 

 known. 



A. L. QUAINTANCE, 

 Bureau of Eutomoloto' Bulletin 101. 



Apple Tree Measuring Worm 



Ennomos subsignarius 

 Two brown or black looping caterpil- 

 lars occurring on apple trees are not al- 

 ways discriminated by fruit growers, 

 who speak of both as canker worms. The 

 species here treated is sometimes very 

 common and may defoliate whole or- 

 chards at times, but its larvae is so much 

 like that of the true canker worm that 

 one might be excused for failing to rec- 

 ognize the differences. The adult moths, 

 however, are very different, though the 

 insects are members of the same family. 

 They are leaf feeders and so may be con- 

 trolled by arsenical sprays. 



Apple Bed Bug and False Apple Red Bug 



Heterocordylibs malinus Rent. 

 Lygidea manrlax Rent. 



Two species of red bug have been re- 

 ported from New York. These leaf bugs 

 are a brilliant tomato red in their imma- 

 ture stages. The first appearance of the 

 bugs is detected by the red dots on the 

 foliage caused by their feeding punctures. 



The eggs are laid in late June or early 

 .luly. The nymphs pass through five 

 moults, the wings appearing with the fifth 

 moult. 



Injury to the fruit is caused by the 

 punctures of the young nymphs while 

 feeding upon the small fruit. These 

 punctures sometimes reach to the center 

 of the apple. Apples thus injured some- 

 times fall and those which remain on 

 the trees until maturit.v are spoiled for 

 market, on account of their rough, nobby 



