APPLE PESTS 



500 



Fig. 1. The Fruit Tree Barii Borer, a, caterpillar or horer from above ; c. same 

 from below ; b, adult moth — all enlarged. Delaware Experiment Station. 



The moths fly at night and are rarely 

 seen. The wing expanse is about an 

 inch. The head and body are dusky 

 gray while the fore wings are a dusky 

 gray with brownish-red and black mark- 

 ings. The hind wings are smoky. 



Bemedies 



The borers are most commonly found 

 boring Into wounds, cracks of the bark, 

 cut ends of branches, etc. Such abrasions 

 should, therefore, be cut as smooth as 

 possible and then be well painted. 



Infested trees with loose and cracking 

 bark should be well scraped during the 

 winter, thus destroying many of the 

 hibernating borers, as well as many other 

 insects with similar habits (such as the 

 codling moth). Trees with smooth bark 

 are also less likely to be again attacked. 

 The borers will not all be caught by 

 scraping, however, and the trees should 

 be carefully gone over and all borers cut 

 out before May 1. Washing the trunks 

 and lower branches of the trees with 

 whale-oil soap or thick caustic soft soap, 

 to which has been added one pint of 

 crude carbolic acid to every ten gallons. 

 which is used as a repellent against the 

 apple tree borer beetle, may also prevent 

 the moths from depositing their eggs on 

 trees so treated. Such washes should be 

 applied before the middle of May and 

 will be of value in repelling other boring 

 insects. 



Subsequently during the summer the 

 borers should be cut out as often as ob- 

 served, which can be easily and quickly 

 done, as they never penetrate the sap- 



wood and their presence is usually no- 

 ticeable by the borings thrown out at the 

 surface of the bark. 



Ronnd-Headed Apple Tree Borer 



Saperda Candida Fabr. 

 This is a very injurious beetle to the 

 apple trees. The adult insect measures 

 about three-fourths of an inch long, is 

 brown and has two broad white stripes 

 extending the length of the body. The 

 eggs are laid on the bark near the base 

 of the tree during the summer. The 

 larvae, which are white with round heads 

 and black jaws, hatch within a short 

 time and immediately they begin to bore 

 into the interior of the tree. It takes 

 three seasons for the larvae to reach 

 maturity: the beetles come out during 

 the summer. 



Remedies 



The larvae may be detected first by the 

 discoloration of the bark and later by the 

 castings which have been pushed out of 

 the burrows. The most effective remedy, 

 as for the other tree borers, is the dig- 

 ging out method. Of course this means 

 the making of additional wounds on the 

 trees which in some cases may be as bad 

 as the borers. Protecting the trunk of 

 the tree to prevent the laying of the eggs 

 by the females is recommended. Mosquito 

 netting wrapped about the trunk is said 

 to be satisfactorj'. 



Measures used against the peach tree 

 borer ought to give just as good satis- 

 faction with the round-headed apple tree 

 borer. 



