The Currant Stem-girdkr 345 



THE GREEN CURRANT WORM 



Gymnonychus appendiculatus, Hartig 



This insect has been commonly known as the native currant worm, 

 but it too seems to have been imported from Europe, hence that 

 name should be abandoned. It is widely distributed and sometimes 

 does noticeable damage in the West, but is seldom destructive in 

 the East. It is somewhat closely related to the common currant 

 worm but the flies are smaller in size, and both sexes are black. The 

 flies appear in spring as the leaves are unfolding, and the eggs are 

 laid in the edge of the leaf between the two layers. The worms are 

 solid green in color, with blackish heads, never having black spots 

 like the preceding species. They do not feed in groups. They reach 

 full size in about five days, spin small brownish cocoons underneath 

 trash or just below the surface, and emerge as perfect flies in about 

 a week. There may be four or five broods in middle latitudes, each 

 requiring about twenty-five days from egg to adult. 



Treatment. The same methods employed in fighting the common 

 currant worm may be used against this one. 

 References. 



Walsh, Pract. Ent. 1:123. 



Riley, Mo. Kept. 9:23. 



Saunders, Kept. Ent. Soc. Ont. f., 1871: 34. 



THE CURRANT STEM-GIRDLER 



Janus integer, Norton 



This, too, is a native saw-fly, but the larvae, instead of feeding 

 on the leaves, like the others, burrow in the pith of the currant 

 stems. The egg is laid within the pith of the young shoots a few 

 inches from the tips. After depositing the egg the female fly moves 

 upward and proceeds to girdle the stem at a point from half an inch 

 to an inch above where the egg was placed. The cane may be en- 

 tirely severed by this girdling, or may still cling by a small portion, 

 but quickly wilts, and generally soon falls away. The larva, which 

 is nearly half an inch long at maturity, burrows downward, eating 

 out the pith as it goes, and leaving its channel filled with dark brown- 



