6o INSECTS OF ECONOMIC IMPORTANCE 



The PEACH-TREE BORER ^^ (Sanninoidea c.ritiosa) 

 Order — Lepidoptera. IManual, p. 260 



This pest is found in every state where peaches 

 are grown east of the Rocky Aloiintains; it is a na- 

 tive insect and may attack the cherry, pkini, prune, 

 apricot, ahiiond, and nectarine. 



The eggs are deposited on the hark of the trunks 

 of trees in July and later ; they hatch and the young 

 larvae find a crevice through which they gnaw their 

 w^ay into the inner bark; here they work in the inner 

 bark and sapwood, usually just below the surface 

 of the ground; they often girdle young trees; the 

 borers become half or two-thirds grown by fall and 

 hibernate, either in their burrows or in hibernacula 

 until spring; they become active and complete their 

 growth by first part of June in New York and trans- 

 form to pupae; some larvae seem to live over another 

 year; the larvae make large cocoons at the surface 

 of the ground and the moths emerge from latter 

 part of June to August ; the moths are clear-winged, 

 shy and not often seen; the female has one or two 

 orange-yellow bands on abdomen. 



Control — Dig out the borers before June 15th 

 of each year; Smith says, after borers are dug, 

 spray the trunks with lime-sulphur at winter 

 strengths with an excess of lime added and with i 

 pound arsenate of lead to 5 gallons of the mixture. 

 Spray wnth force into crevices of bark and then hill 

 up 6 inches around base of tree; gas tar is some- 

 times used but some danger in it. Paradichloro- 

 benzene is being used in an experimental wav (U. 

 S. Bu. Ent., Bull. 796). 



43 Slingerland — Cornell Univ. Expt. Stat., Bull. 176. 

 Smith — New Jersey Expt. Stat., Bull. 235. 



