Insects Injurious to the Rasvherry. 



421 



stalks of the blossoms are occasionally eaten throuo-h by a minute 

 animal {Byturus tomentosuf;), which I once saw prove fatal to a whole 

 crop, and of which the larva feeds upon the fruit itself" 



It is by no means infrequent for the greater part of the crop to 

 become infested and much ruined for market purposes. Some years 

 no crop appears at all, owing to the beetles destroying the blossoms. 

 This beetle is one of the most regular pests in this fruit, occurring 

 year after year unless remedies are adopted, and unfortunately it lias 

 a very wide distribution in Great Britain. It occurs practically all 

 over England, irrespective of soil. It has been particularly abundant 

 on the loams and loamy clays of the London clay in Kent, and 

 I have seen it carrying ruin Ijefore it on chalk, red sandstone. 



FIG. -^lU.— WOKKI.NG OF TH 



larva entering frnit ; B. cort 



lETLE (ISiitnrns tuiiH'iitoxus). 

 C, hole made by larva ; alsn I). 



gault, and brick-earth. It has been inquired about by fruit-growers 

 and gardeners in Cambridgeshire, AVorcestershire, Herefordshire, 

 Gloucestershire, Bedfordshire, Surrey, Hampshire, and I have seen it 

 working in Yorkshire and Huntingdonshire to a serious extent. It 

 occurs abundantly in parts of Scotland, and I have already recorded 

 it in raspberries in north Wales (1). 



In Europe it is recorded as destructive in France and Germany. 



The beetles and larvte are found also on the cultivated and 



