116 PLUM, PEACH, AND CHERRY INSECTS 



with five gallons of water. Orchards should be kept free from 

 dead wood. A closely allied form, the peach-tree bark beetle, 

 and its work are shown in figures 138 and 139. 



The Pear-blight Beetle (Xyleborus pyri Peck). This beetle 

 may infest plum, pear, apple, and apricot. It is commonly regarded 

 as infesting only weak and unhealthy trees, but, as in the case of 

 the two bark beetles, sound trees are known to be infested also. 

 It may attack not only twigs but also the trunk. The twigs, as a 



FIG. 139. Exit holes in peach limbs made by adults of peach-tree bark beetles, shown in 

 figure 138. (Brooks, U. S. Bu. Ent.) 



result of attack, die, but this must not be confounded with the 

 death of twigs due to the disease known as pear-blight or fire-blight. 



Life History. The beetle deposits her eggs at the base of the 

 buds. The young larva, upon hatching, works into the pith, 

 causing the tree to wither. In the bottom of this burrow the larva 

 changes to a pupa and later to the beetle. In June and July the 

 adult emerges and lays its eggs before the end of August. 



The adult is a small, cylindrical beetle, one-tenth of an inch 

 long; deep brown or black. 



