RASPBERRY PESTS 



1777 



and while it is at present confined to a 

 ratlier limited area, it will without doubt 

 spread and eventually become a serious 

 pest. The larva or borer of this insect 

 tunnels into the canes, crowns and even 

 the lateral roots of the blackberry and 

 raspberry, eating out the pith and weak- 

 ening the entire plant system. Only in 

 severe cases do they kill the plant out- 

 right, their presence usually being first 

 indicated by the wilting or death of an 

 occasional cane or by the smaller size 

 and inferior quality of the berries. 



Life History aiid Haliits 



The adult of this borer is a rather 

 attractive clear-winged moth, nearly 

 three-quarters of an inch in length and 

 bearing to tlie ordinary observer a close 

 resemblance to a wasp. The head and 

 thorax are brownish black. Around each 

 eye is a yellow ring, the antennae are 

 black. The abdomen is colored with al- 

 ternating rings of yellow and black. 

 These adult moths commence emerging 

 from the pupa cases about the middle of 

 July and individuals continue to appear 

 until late September. These adult moths 

 are very sluggish, move slowly and fly 

 heavily. The female deposits eggs on 

 the under side of the blackberry and 

 raspberry leaves. These eggs are reddish 

 brown, about 1-16 inch in length, and 

 hatch in late September or October. The 

 larvae burrow into the cane near the 

 ground and hibernate. They become ac- 

 tive in crowns and stems the following 

 spring, hibernating a second winter, after 

 which they pupate and emerge as adults, 

 to begin a new cycle. 



Not all of the injury these insects do 

 is directly traceable to the feeding of the 

 larvae on the roots. The exit holes af- 

 ford a means for the ready entrance of 

 water and the subsequent decay of the 

 canes and roots. 



Remedies 



Numerous birds have been observed 

 flying about in yards catching and feed- 

 ing upon the adult moths. Therefore, 

 protect the birds. On account of their 

 sluggish habits of flight poultry could 

 undoubtedly pick up many of the emerg- 



ing adult moths. No spray is practical 

 for the adult moths nor for the larvae 

 after they have entered the cane or root. 

 It would seem that some sticky sub- 

 stance applied to the canes in early fall 

 might prevent the hatching larvae from 

 crawling down the stalks to enter the 

 root. So far as we know no such trials 

 have been made, and until they are, we 

 could not consistently advise any such 

 treatment. The digging and burning of 

 infested plants seems practical only when 

 the infestation is sufllciently severe as 

 to show an effect on the plant. Many of 

 the larvae may be collected in the old 

 canes and stump of canes during June 

 and July, when they are forming the 

 emergence tunnels for the escape of the 

 adults. 



Rose Scale. See Blackberry Pests. 



San Jose Scale. See Apple Pests. 



Snowy Tree Cricket. See Blackberry 

 Pests. 



STR.\WBERRy Crown Moth. See Straw- 

 berry Pests. 



Tree Crickets 

 Ecanthiis sp. 



One of the most common forms of 

 injury to the canes of blackberry and 

 raspberry is a series of punctures re- 

 sembling a line of pin pricks, ranged 

 longitudinally with the cane. By split- 

 ting the cane there will be found in each 

 puncture an elongated, yellowish, slight- 

 ly curved egg, about one-eighth of an 

 inch long. The insects which lay these 

 eggs are pale, whitish-green insects, with 

 long, thread-like antennae and whitish 

 or membranous wings, which, particu- 

 larly in case of the males, lie flat on the 

 back. With some species there are dusky 

 stripes on the head and thorax and the 

 legs and antennae are blackrsh. They 

 are allied to the grasshoppers and 

 crickets, and are commonly known as 

 tree crickets. There are two common 

 species, Ecanthus nigrieornis and Ecan- 

 thus guadripunctatus. which oviposit in 

 raspberry and blackberry canes, chiefly 

 during the month of September. The 

 young crickets, when first hatched in 

 midsummer, feed to a limited extent upon 

 plant lice, but in the fall upon ripe fruits 



."?— 20 



