Io6 FORESTRY IN NEW ENGLAND 



and of about the same size and form as the adult; it is found in 

 cavities in the bark. 



Life History. - — Simultaneously a large number of beetles will 

 attack the lower part of a large-sized spruce. Trees over 

 ten inches in diameter may be attacked They bore through 

 the bark and deposit their eggs in the galleries as already de- 

 scribed. The eggs soon hatch and each larva bores its individ- 

 ual gallery where it matures. The period of development from 

 egg to mature larva varies according to the season, from two to 

 nine months, but the adult seldom develops sufiticiently to emerge 

 until another spring. The result is, when activity ceases in 

 October, that a tree may contain the insect in all its stages of 

 growth. 



Treatment. — Nothing can be done to save a tree once in- 

 fested with this borer, but much can be done to prevent the 

 spread to other trees. Theoretically the best method is to make 

 trap trees by hack girdling them in May or June. The beetles 

 are thus led to concentrate on these weakened trees, and these 

 are to be destroyed in the fall, winter, or early spring, either by 

 the removal of the timber from the forest or by felling and re- 

 moving the bark before the insects emerge. Intelhgent lum- 

 bering of the areas of infected trees, and of all mature trees, is 

 the most practicable way of keeping this insect in check. 



The Spruce Bud worm (Tortrix fumijerana) . 



The spruce budworm is an insect which, within recent years 

 at least, has not attracted widespread attention among forest- 

 ers and landowners in New England. Extensive killing of the 

 spruce about thirty years ago along the Maine coast is attributed 

 largely by Packard to this insect. However, in Canada, in the 

 neighboring province of Quebec, it is now a serious pest, and 

 there is reason to believe that in New England also it may 

 become dangerous. 



Form of Damage. — The insect feeds in its caterpillar stage on 

 the buds of the spruce, and after these are destroyed it eats off 



