278 



The Canadian Horticulturist. 



THE PEACH TREE BORER. 



(JEgeria, exitiosa.) 



HESK gay moths (fig. 573), resembling wasps in appearance-, come 

 forth in July, August and September. I have hatched them in all 

 of these months. They soon pair and then the egg-laying com- 

 mences. The eggs are laid just at the base of the trunk. Soon 

 after the whitish larva; will be found, as they have commenced 

 boring in the bark and sapwood just beneath the surface of the ground. Where- 

 ever they work, just beneath the earth will be found a sticky mass formed of the 

 oo/ing gum and their chip-dust, which gives quick indication of their presence. 

 These larvae are found of varying sizes, which is easily understood from the 

 fact of the length of time at which the moths come forth, from July to September. 

 These larvae will be found at work till about the first week of July, when we will 

 often only find pupae encased in a rough cocoon of chip-dust, earth and gum. 

 By seeking out these oval cocoons anyone may, by keeping them in earth in a 

 close box, rear the beautiful moths. The female(i, Fig. 573) is larger, darker 

 than the male, and has a bright, yellow band across her abdomen. The male 

 (2, Fig. 573) expands about an inch. In hatching a large number I have found 

 that the ratio of males to females is about one to five, which would seem to 

 indicate that polygamy reigned among insects. In pushing out of their cocoon, 

 the pupa-skin is always left projecting from the opening. Perhaps the split 

 cocoon serves them as a vice, thus aiding them to gain their freedom. 



This is a most destructive insect when allowed to increase for a few years 

 without molestation, and their multipli- 

 cation should be prevented by all possible 

 means. The eggs are deposited in the 

 summer on the base of the trunk near 

 the collar, where the bark is soft. There 

 they are hatched, and bore their way 

 under the bark of the tree, either in the 

 stem or roots, or both, producing an 

 effusion of gum. 



Remedy i, Mounding. — -Bank up the soil firmly around the stem eight to 

 twelve inches directly after blooming, taking it away in the middle of the 

 following August, and trace the grub through its holes in the tree and kill it ; 

 then place a shovelful or two of wood ashes around the base. Wood ashes or 

 slaked lime may be applied every spring, and at the end of summer may be 

 scattered about the tree, either of these articles forming an excellent dressing for 

 the peach. 



Judge J. G. Ramsdell, so well and favorably known as a pomologist, tells 



Fig. 573. — 1, Female ; 2, Male. 



