264 BUSH-FRUITS 



The larva reaches its full size toward the latter part of April, 

 bores into the middle of the cane, where it will be more secure 

 from insect foes, forms a smooth, oval cell, and transforms into a 

 white pupa, showing quite plainly the marks of the future beetle. 

 It gradually darkens, and assumes more and more the form of the 

 perfect insect. The mature beetles begin to emerge about the last 

 of May, and are usually most abundant in June. It is during this 

 period that the eggs are laid. 



John B. Smith, who has examined large numbers of the very 

 young larvee, finds that the egg is laid at the base of a leaf -stalk, 

 generally near the ground. He says : " The beetle probably does 

 not lay more than one egg at the same point, and one larva at a 

 leaf-stalk is the rule; but sometimes different specimens may 

 choose the same point for oviposition, and in one case three 

 larvae had started together, burrowing under the bark, each for 

 himself, in distinct channels. There seems to be no rule as to the 

 direction in which the girdling is done, some starting to the right 

 and some to the left. Sometimes, when eggs are laid at the base 

 of a leaf from which a vigorous lateral starts, the young larva will 

 run up the lateral rather than the main stem. Early laterals are 

 sometimes as badly infested as the main shoots." 



The insect is thought to prefer raspberries to blackberries, 

 as a rule, but in New Jersey the Wilson blackberry suffers most 

 of all. Professor Smith observes that although it attacks black 

 raspberries, there are no galls formed and no injury is done, the 

 larva apparently confining its work to the center of the cane. 



Remedies. A knowledge of the life history of the insect at 

 once reveals the remedy. As the perfect insect does not emerge 

 from the cane till late in spring, it is only necessary to attend to 

 the spring pruning promptly, taking especial care to watch for and 

 remove all galls. This may often necessitate cutting away whole 

 canes, but the value of the treatment depends entirely on the 

 thoroughness with which it is done. All wood cut away should be 

 carefully collected and burned, for removing it from the root in no 

 way hinders the development of the beetles. It is important that 

 growers cooperate and do the work thoroughly, for one neglected 

 patch will serve as a breeding ground for a whole neighborhood. 



