512 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF PRACTICAL HORTICULTURE 



hatched young offers a means whereby 

 this Insect can be held in check. Unin- 

 fested trees can be protected by applying 

 bands of some sticky substance as tangle- 

 foot or tarred bands. 



Natural Enemies 



[For several years past the government 

 entomologists have been importing vari- 

 ous species of parasitic flies and predaci- 

 ous beetles which, in the native habitat 

 of the moth have served to hold it in 

 check. After some years of waiting these 



Fig. 3. Chalcis Flv. Enemy of Brown Tail 

 Moth. 



parasites have at length increased to such 

 numbers as to begin to have an appre- 

 ciable effect in controlling the moth and 

 may eventuall.v reduce their number. — 

 Ed.] 



Buffalo Tree Hopper 



Ceresa iubaliis Fab. 



H. F. Wilson 



This insect is quite common through- 

 out the United States and may do con- 

 siderable damage when abundant. The 

 common name applied to the adults is 

 given on account of an imaginary simi- 

 larity in shape to a male buffalo. The 

 mature insect is grass green in color, 

 triangular in shape and with the prono- 

 tum projecting strongly into sharp points 

 in front. The summit of the pronotum 

 forms a longitudinal line extending on a 

 slant to the tip of the abdomen. 



The Injury done by this insect is 

 caused by the cutting of the twigs and 

 limbs of trees and nursery stock for the 

 purpose of depositing eggs. When abun- 

 dant smaller limbs often become so badly 

 scarred and injured that they become 



hidebound and cannot grow properly; as 

 a result they are stunted and unthrifty. 



In addition, the scars form favorable 

 receptacles for fungous growths and 

 other insects. 



The habits and life history have been 

 taken from C. L. Marlatt. 



Habits and Life History 



The habits and life history of the buf- 

 falo tree hopper are as follows: The adult 

 insect chooses as a nidus for its eggs — the 

 twigs, preferably those of two to three 

 years' growth, of various trees, partic- 

 ularly the apple, willow, cottonwood, 

 maple, etc., confines itself in general to 

 the upper surface of the twigs. * * * 

 The eggs are deposited quite as readily 

 in the new growth of old trees, as in 

 young trees, but the damage is much 

 more noticeable in the latter case. * * * 



In depositing the eggs the bark is cut 

 by the ovipositor in such a way that the 

 narrow bark intervening between the two 

 incisions is cut entirely loose. This has 

 a very important bearing on the subse- 

 quent condition of the wounds made by 

 the insect in oviposition. The object is 

 doubtless to cause a deadening of the 

 wood between the two rows of eggs, to 

 prevent their being crushed and choked 

 out by the subsequent rapid growth of 

 the twig, and it is due to this peculiarity 

 that the injury later assumes so serious 

 a nature. A single incision made by the 

 insect to contain its eggs would heal over 

 and cause little after-damage, but with 

 the combination of two incisions and the 

 killing of the intervening bark, causing 

 it to adhere to the wood, a large scar is 

 produced, which, with each subsequent 

 year's growth, enlarges and ultimately 

 assumes an oval form, the dead bark of 

 the center breaking out. After a few 

 years, limbs which have been thickly 

 worked on by the insect, become very 

 scabby and rough, are easily broken off 

 by the wind and are very liable to attack 

 by wood-boring insects. 



The adults first appear about the mid- 

 dle of July and become most numerous 

 during August, or even earlier, and con- 

 tinue this work until they are killed by 



