22S Hftrris's Li9ec/s of Neic England 



so great that we should be indebted vastly to any one who 

 could suggest a remedy. Some vermin, we are recom- 

 mended to treat with '• cold lead," but, from " fragments 

 of lead found in the stomachs"' of certain of these strange 

 gournumds, we fear, such a remedy, at least, might fail. 

 it is the more provoking, too, to be informed that now 

 " common in the maritime parts of the United States it was 

 probably first brought to this country by vessels from 

 Hurope."' 



Rather a modest looking creature is the apple-tree borer, 

 when in its full suit, certainly seeming harmless enough, 

 although evidently, on examination, only a hypocritical 

 disguise in which to come out into honest broad daylight. 

 This insect {Saperda bivittata) too, although so common to 

 our orchards, does not seem to be very widely diffused, if 

 we may judge from the surprise manifested by a friend of 

 ours in a neighboring state, to whom we proved its exist- 

 ence in his trees, whose foliage had begun to fail only a 

 year or two before, and the cause of which was hitherto a 

 mystery. This statement, we are aware, is contradictory 

 to the following extract of the Report, although, perhaps, 

 the instance in our knowledge was a singular one. We 

 mention it rather, because it excited our surprise at the 

 time. 



" The borers of the apple-tree have become notorious, throughout the 

 New England and Middle States, for their extensive ravages. They are 

 the larvae of a beetle called Saperda bivittata by Mr. Say, the two-striped, 

 or the brown and white striped Saperda ; the upper side of its body being 

 marked with two longitudinal white stripes between three of a light brown 

 color, while the face, the antennae, the under-side of the body, and the 

 legs, are white. This beetle varies in length from a little more than one 

 half to three quarters of an inch. It comes forth from the trunks of the 

 trees, in its perfected state, early in June, making its escape in the night, 

 during which time only it uses its ample wings in going from tree to tree 

 in search of companions and food. In the daytime it keeps at rest among 

 the leaves of the plants which it devours. The trees and shrubs princi- 

 pally attacked by this borer, are the apple-tree, the quince, mountain ash, 

 hawthorn and other thorn bushes, the June-berry or shad-l)ush, and other 

 kinds of j4me/«?icAie/- and vlronw. Our native thorns and Aronias are its 

 natural food ; for I have discovered the larvae in the stems of these shrubs, 

 and have repeatedly found the beetles upon thorn, eating the leaves, in 

 June and July. It is in these months that the eggs are deposited, being 

 laid upon the bark near the root, during the night. The larvse hatched 

 therefrom are fleshy whitish grubs, nearly cylindrical, and tapering a little 

 from the first ring to the end of the body. The head is small, horny, 

 and brown ; the first ring is much larger than the others, the next two are 



