78 



INSECTS INJURIOUS TO THE APPLE 



Control. Dig up and burn badly infested trees, using ground 

 for another purpose for a time. For the bark form of louse, use 

 any of the washes recommended for plant lice, such as kerosene 

 emulsion, strong soap wash, tobacco extracts, resin wash, etc., 

 applied with sufficent force to penetrate the cottony cover. Sprays 

 are best applied warm. Bands of tanglefoot about the base of 

 trunk in early spring may keep many of the root forms from 

 ascending. 



The New York Weevil (Ithycerus noveboracensis Forst.). 

 This is one of the largest of our snout beetles or curculios; at least 

 a half -inch long; ash-colored, marked with black, with four whitish 

 lines on each wing-cover, interrupted by black 

 dots (Fig. 100). Three smaller whitish lines 

 on the thorax; a yellowish spot on the back, 

 at the junction of wing case and thorax. The 

 larva or grub is footless, pale yellow, with a 

 tawny head. 



Life History. The adult appears in May 

 or June, the female depositing her eggs usually 

 in oak or hickory trees. She usually makes a 

 longitudinal incision with her jaws, eating 

 under the bark; then turns and deposits her 

 eggs in the opening. The larval stage is passed 

 in the oak or hickory, and damage to orchards 

 is naturally greatest near woodlands. 



Injury. The adult injures apple and other 

 100. New York fruit trees by eating the buds and bark of 

 twigs. Later, leaves are eaten off at the base. 

 The beetle is active at night and prefers the 

 tender, succulent shoots of the apple, but also feeds upon pear and 

 plum, as well as peach in localities where the latter is grown. 



Control. Practice jarring of the trees as for plum curculio 

 (which see). Spray with arsenicals early in the spring, just as the 

 buds are swelling. 



The Apple Twig Borer. This insect is commonly found attack- 

 ing the small twigs of apple trees. See the discussion under grape 

 insects, pages 155 and 157. 



INSECTS INJURING THE LEAVES 



The Apple Tree Tent Caterpillar (Malacosoma americana 

 Fab.). The adult insect is a dull, reddish-brown moth with stout 



FIG. 



weevil, infested twig (a), 

 larva (6), adult (c). 



