PECAN PESTS 



1673 



eighths of an inch broad. It is liarlv 

 brown in color with long feelers, or an- 

 tennae. The larvae or borer that hatches 

 from the egg laid by the parent beetle 

 finally becomes as thick as one's fore- 

 flngor and nearly three and ons-half 

 inches long. It is supposed that the borer 

 lives several years before attaining its 

 growth. 



The only thing 1 am able to suggest as 

 a preventive measure against this insect 

 is to examine the young pecan trees fre- 

 quently at their bases for the borers and 

 if they are present to dig them out. It 

 may often be possible to run wires into 

 the burrows of the larvae and kill them 

 in that way. 



Oak Prnner 

 Elapliidion villosum Fab. 



Although this insect is known as the 

 oak pruner, it attacks many other trees 

 besides the oak. 



Where the oak pruner is abundant it is 

 a common thing to find the ground be- 

 neath oak trees littered with small 

 branches and twigs that have been cut 

 from the trees by this pruning beetle. It 

 is said that the insect occasionally cuts 

 off branches several feet long; but usu- 

 ally they are from a few inches to one 

 or two feet in length. Within nearly 

 every cut-off branch will be found a soft, 

 white .grub living in a burrow that it has 

 made for itself in the hard wood of the 

 branch. This is the larvae of the oak 

 pruner. 



Life History 



The adult female beetle deposits an egg 

 in a branch of the tree which soon hatches 

 into a small white larva. The larva im- 

 mediately begins eating the wood just 

 beneath the bark usually traveling toward 

 the base of the limb. Later, it works into 

 the middle of the branch and keeps on 

 eating out its burrow, which sometimes 

 reaches several inches in length. Final- 

 ly, the larva cuts the wood of the branch 

 all the way around so that it falls of its 

 own weight or is broken off by the wind. 

 The larvae transforms to a pupa in the 

 burrow in the fallen limb. It takes about 

 three years for this insect to complete its 

 growth. 



The larva does not always cut the 

 branches off in which it lives. 



Food Plants 



This beetle has been found to infest a 

 wide variety of plants. Among the list 

 of known species are, the oak, abies, hick- 

 ory, chestnut, maple, apple, plum, peach, 

 grape, quince, locust, redbud, wistaria, 

 sumach, orange, osage and pecan. 



Remedies 



Wherever it becomes abundant it may 

 be controlled by picking up and burning 

 the fallen branches. 



Pecan Bnd Worm 



Acrobasis sp. 



One of the most serious pests to the 

 buds of pecans is what is known as the 

 bud worm. The larvae is very destructive 

 to newly set spring buds and sometimes 

 to the buds of trees the first year after 

 transplanting. Chittenden reports injury 

 to pecan buds in Georgia, during 1902, 

 by three species of Acrobasis; rubrifas- 

 ciella Pack., angusella Grt., and paUiolella 

 Rag. The following notes on the habits 

 of the bud worm were made by Mr. James 

 Brodie, of Bioloxi, Miss.: 



"I found it a very destructive pest 

 among spring buds when I practiced that 

 system of propagating pecans. In spring 

 budding, the buds are placed and forced 

 out the same season, but are generally 

 late in starting — say the end of April or 

 the beginning of May. The moth deposits 

 her eggs just as the bud opens. At birth 

 the larva is small, not more than one- 

 eighth of an Inch in length. It secretes 

 itself in the inner folds of the opening 

 bud and begins work. Its presence is apt 

 to be overlooked until damage is done. 

 As the larvae advances in growth it spins 

 a web around the small, expanding leaves, 

 with the evident object of retarding 

 growth of the bud and affording cover 

 while in the pupa stage. When the mis- 

 chief has been done its presence is easily 

 detected by the blighted appearance of 

 the bud and an accumulation of excreta 

 that entangles in the web. 



"The most effective remedy I found was 

 close daily inspection and the removal of 

 the worm on a pin point. 



