244 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. 



Maiden, Mass. From these branches, at the time of writing 

 (June 12, 1897), the mature beetles are emerging, thus show- 

 ing that the round of life may be completed in a single year 

 and corroborating the statements of Fitch and other early 

 writers concerning this point.* 



Natural Enemies. 

 As natural enemies of the oak pruner Mr. F. H. Mosher 

 records the downy wood-pecker, the blue jay and the chick- 

 adee. I have found a spider, determined by Mr. J. H. Emer- 

 ton as Theridium iepidariorum C. Koch, feeding upon the 

 mature insects. 



Remedy. 



Preventive measures are the only ones of value in com- 

 bating this insect. The fallen branches should be gathered 

 and burned at once, thus destroying the borers which other- 

 wise might transform and appear as beetles the following 

 year. A common mistake made by many property owners 

 is that of gathering the infested branches and leaving them 

 on some convenient rubbish heap. This procedure is worse 

 than useless, since under such conditions the transformations 

 of the borer are not hindered. 



The Imported Elm Bark Louse. f 



In cities and suburban districts the damage to young elms 

 by this insect is a frequent and increasing cause of com- 

 plaint, and while its life history has been so well treated by 

 Lounsbury in Bulletin 28, Massachusetts Hatch Experiment 

 Station, a brief statement concerning its habits and the reme- 

 dies we have found eliective in destroying it may be properly 

 given at this time. 



This insect is an imported bark louse, superficially resem- 

 bling the "mealy bug," and is commonly noticed in the 

 crevices of the bark on the trunks and branches of elms. The 

 females are bordered with a mass of whitish wax and give 

 birth to large numbers of young during the early part of 



* statements also vary concerning the time of the appearance of the mature beetles. 

 In 1896 the majority of the beetles captured at Maiden were taken in June. Mr. A. 

 F. Burgess has taken specimens of this borer as early as April 11. 



t Gossyparia ulmi Geoff. 



