The American Currant Borer 341 



maturely and the larvae remain in it for a time. Not all the insects 

 fall with the fruit, some escaping before it drops. Yet allowing 

 chickens among the bushes until picking time and again thereafter, 

 has been thought to help. The pupse transform within an inch of the 

 surface. Frequent cultivation may therefore destroy some. 

 References. 



Maine Expt. Sta. Rept. 1895: 111. 



Colo. Expt. Sta. Bull. 19: 18. 



Paine, Psyche, 19: 139. 



DARK CURRANT FRUIT-FLY 



In the Pacific Northwest a closely related species, Rhagoletis 

 ribicola, Doane, termed the dark currant fruit-fly, attacks the fruit 

 of both currants and gooseberries. Its life history and habits are 

 much the same as the above and it must be combated in the same 

 way. 

 Reference. 



Wash. Expt. Sta. Bull. 36: 3. 



THE AMERICAN CURRANT BORER 



Psenocerus supernotatus, Say 



This insect, though very similar in its habits to the imported 

 currant borer, belongs to an entirely different order. When ma- 

 ture, instead of being a moth, it is a small, narrow, brownish beetle, 

 nearly cylindrical, and varying in length from one-eighth to one- 

 fourth of an inch. The larva is a small, white, round and wrinkled 

 grub without feet. The life history is practically the same as that 

 of the imported insect, and larvae of both are sometimes found to- 

 gether in the same stalk. 



The food habits of this insect are peculiar in that it seems to prefer 

 working in canes which are attacked by the currant cane-blight, 

 Botryosphceria Ribis, feeding upon the spores and growing parts of 

 the fungus itself. The beetles are often found abundantly in late 

 May and early June, both in the field and in material which has 

 been collected and brought inside. The larval and pupal stages 



