bEt'ORT OF THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST I913 33 



a comparatively slight expense. The probabilities are that relatively 

 few insects will occur upon the trees another season and only one 

 or two collections may be necessary to secure practical immunity 

 for the planting until the trees attain a size which will make them 

 immune from serious injury. There is no reason why, with im- 

 proved devices, the cost of this operation could not be materially 

 lowered. . :_li^UJ 



HICKORY BARK BORER 



Eccoptogaster quadrispinosa Say 



The operations of the destructive hickory bark borer have been 

 followed another season in the vicinity of New York City, and 

 it is gratifying to state that in a general way the injury has not 

 been so severe as in 1912. This is probably due in part to natural 

 causes, since several localities were found the preceding season 

 where the young grubs had evidently been destroyed by natural 

 agents. In some instances this beneficial result was undoubtedly 

 due to the activities of a small parasite and in other cases only 

 Dipterous maggots, possibly a species of Medeterus, were found in 

 the otherwise empty galleries. 



Last season some adults were observed near New York entering 

 the trees and laying eggs about July loth, and an examination July 

 i6th, of two hickories with trunk diameters of approximately 7 or 8 

 inches showed that practically all the leaves of one tree had wilted 

 and those of the upper portion of the other. This injury was so 

 general that it could not be attributed to petiole infestation. An ex- 

 amination the next day on Long Island showed other trees in a 

 similar condition. In this latter case the galleries of the larvae 

 extended from one-half to one and one-fourth inches from the 

 parental burrow. In both cases the trees had been attacked by so 

 many insects that they were speedily girdled, and an examination 

 of the Bronxville trees September 24th showed that both were dead, 

 although they were in excellent condition the preceding summer. 

 There was no evidence of any material injury to these trees prior 

 to 1913. 



Continued work with remedial applications has shown little or 

 no material injury from the use of a 10 per cent Barcurol solution 

 upon the trunk, and decided benefit so far as destroying beetles, 

 eggs or young grubs are concerned. This treatment, in order to 

 be most effective, should be made as soon as possible after the beetles 

 have entered the tree, otherwise there is danger of the grubs work- 

 ing so far into the tissues as to be unafifected by the insecticide. 



