78 INSECTS OF ECONOMIC IMPORTANCE 



CURRANT PESTS 



The imtorted currant worm ^^ (Pfcronus 

 ribesii) 



Order — Hymcnoptcra. Manual, p. 613 



An imported insect first found in New York 

 about Rochester in 1857; it is a saw-fly with a red- 

 dish body about one-third of an inch long and four 

 transparent wings. The adults appear soon after 

 the leaves put out and lay their eggs along the veins 

 of the undersides of the leaves ; they hatch in a week 

 or ten days; the larvae have 10 pairs of legs and 

 eat voraciously, often defoliating the bushes ; when 

 full-grown they are three-quarters of an inch long 

 and burrow into the ground or hide beneath rub- 

 bish on the surface and spin cocoons within which 

 they change to pupae ; in July the adults appear and 

 deposit their eggs for a second generation which is 

 often more abundant than the first; the larvae of 

 this second generation remain in the ground all 

 winter; possibly a partial third generation. 



Control — Spray when larvae are first seen with 

 arsenate of lead, 3 pounds to 50 gallons of water ; 

 when berries begin to ripen use fresh white helle- 

 bore. 



The currant-stem girdler ^- {Jamis integer) 

 Order — Hymenoptera 



An American insect that is widely distributed in 

 New York State ; in May, it girdles the new growth 

 of the branches and the tips wilt and fall over ; the 

 adult insect is a saw-fly with a shining black body 

 and transparent wings. 



The winter is passed as a larva in JDurrows in- 

 side the currant stems; in April it changes to a 



11 Riley— Ninth Mo. Rept, p. 7. 



12 Slingerland— Cornell Univ. Expt. Stat., Bull. 126. 



