90 FRUIT TREES AND THEIR ENEMIES 



Shot-Borers {Xyleborus dispar and X. saxeseni), and 

 the Fn lit- tree Dark Beetle {Scolytus rugulosus). — The 

 first two species of these beetles attack plums and other 

 trees, driving tunnels into the wood of the stems : 

 the last also bores holes in the trees, but confines 

 its operations to the portion between the bark and the 

 hard wood. 



Remedies. — If the attack is a bad one, it is best to 

 destroy the trees : neighbouring trees should be 

 smeared over with a thick mixture of soft soap and 

 washing soda, to prevent the beetle from attacking 

 them. 



Red Spider. — Several different red spiders or mites 

 are included under this designation, but the extent to 

 which they are responsible for the damage commonly 

 attributed to them, is doubtful. The red spider most 

 abundant on plums and apples is the Teimipalpus 

 glaber. The eggs, which are round and red, are 

 very noticeable in winter in the axils of the buds 

 and on the shoots : they hatch in March and April, 

 and the trees will often appear literally covered 

 with the mite. They do not, however, appear to do 

 any damage, and are, perhaps, beneficial, as they 

 eat various fungus spores, beetle-mites and alg?e. 

 In cases where the leaves seem to have been injured 

 by the mite, becoming mottled and yellow, and then 

 falling, the real damage appears to have been caused 

 by the rust fungus, or, occasionally, by leaf-hoppers. 

 These red spiders do not spin webs. 



The TctranycJii, which spin webs, and the Bryohia 

 (easily distinguished by the length of their first pair of 



