302 Maine Agricultural Experiment Station. 1919. 



"The present outbreak seems to be a much more serious 

 and destructive one than that of thirty years ago, for its extent 

 comprises not only the coast regions but practically every wood- 

 ed area of the state." 



"Usually one's attention is first attracted to this insect in 

 the spring or early summer by the wilted or blighted appearance 

 of the new growth at the ends of the branches and twigs of 

 spruce and balsam. This has often been described as resembling 

 the effect produced by the passage of a light fire through the 

 woods." # 



"The feeding of the larvae upon the developing tips of 

 spruce or balsam usually completely kills them and as no more 

 can be reproduced until the following season the tree is greatly 

 weakened. However, to completely kill the tree, it is necessary 

 either that all or nearly all of the old leaves be also eaten, or 

 that the destruction of the buds shall continue several seasons, 

 or that the greatly weakened tree shall be attacked by other in- 

 sects, such as borers which complete the destruction. Thus, 

 but few trees are killed the first year of attack unless complete 

 defoliation both of the new and old needles has resulted, but 

 for the succeeding few years the results are cumulative, as each 

 succeeding crop of new leaves is nearly entirely destroyed, 

 while in the meantime the old ones are being lost in the natural 

 way. When, however, bark beetles and bark weevils attack 

 trees already weakened by nearly complete defoliation, as has 

 been recently reported by Swaine in Canada, they find but little 

 resistance to overcome and the trees readily succumb." 



"A number of trees, some recently dead, others apparently 

 dying, and others seriously and nearly completely defoliated, 

 were felled in order to examine them for boring insects, either 

 bark beetles, weevils or others, which might follow the attack 

 of the budworm and contribute to the death of the trees weak- 

 ened by defoliation." 



In this connection the work of the following insects was 

 observed. Sawyer, Monohammus scutellatas ; balsam bark 

 beetle; Pityokteines sparsus Lee; (Ips balsameus Lee); 

 Pissodes dubius; Cryphalus balsameus Hopk. ; spruce bark 

 beetle (Polygraphus rufipennis Kirby) ; Dryocoetes affaber 

 Mannh; (D. piceae Hopk.); Eccoptogaster piceae S. W. ; 

 Pissodes nigrae. 



