Apple Insects 349 



PLUM-CURCULIO (Conotrachelus nenuphar). A snout-beetle that 

 deforms the fruit by its characteristic feeding and egg-laying 

 punctures. The grubs develop in the fruit and cause it to fall. 



Spraying with arsenate of lead, as for codlin-moth, whenever 

 it can be applied with a fungicide so as not to increase expense, 

 will help to control the trouble. Thorough superficial tillage of 

 the surface of soil during July and August will kill many of .the 

 pupse, and is recommended. For treatment on plum, see under 

 Plum. 



RED BUGS (Heterocordylus malinus and Lygidea mendax). The win- 

 ter is passed as eggs inserted in the smaller branches. The bril- 

 liant red nymphs appear as the buds open and feed on the foliage 

 for a time. Then they puncture the newly set apples, causing one 

 of three things: Some drop, some dry up and remain on trees 

 till next spring, and others mature as knotty, misshapen, worth- 

 less fruit. One generation a year. 



The young nymphs may be killed by thorough spraying with 

 "black leaf 40" tobacco extract, one pint in one hundred gal- 

 lons water, adding four pounds of soap, (1) when blossoms show 

 pink, (2) when the last of the petals are falling. 



ROSE-CHAFER. See Grape. 



SAN JOSE SCALE (Aspidiotus perniciosus). This scale is nearly 

 circular in outline and about the size of a pinhead. When abun- 

 dant it forms a crust on the branches, and causes small red spots 

 on the fruit. It multiplies with marvelous rapidity, there being 

 three or four broods annually, and each mother scale may give 

 birth to several hundred young. The young are born alive, and 

 breeding continues until late autumn, when all stages are killed 

 by the cold weather, except the tiny, half-grown, black scales, 

 many of which hibernate safely. 



Spray thoroughly in the fall after the leaves drop, or early 

 in the spring before growth begins, with lime-sulfur wash, one gal- 

 lon in eight gallons of water, or miscible oil, one gallon in fifteen 

 gallons of water. When badly infested, make two applications, 

 one hi the fall and another in the spring. In case of large, old 

 trees, 25 per cent crude-oil emulsion should be applied just as 

 the buds are swelling. 



TENT-CATERPILLARS (Malacosoma americana and M. disstria). 

 Larvae nearly 2 inches long, spotted and striped with yellow, white 

 and black; feeding upon the leaves. They congregate in tents or 



