40 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 



tree. The most characteristic type of injury is the peculiar bend, 

 owing to the borers feeding mostly upon one side of a shoot and result- 

 ing in a bayonet or posthorn deformity termed by the French and 

 Germans, respectively, as " baionette " and " posthorner." The 

 appearance of a badly infested shoot with four or five buds killed, 

 is shown on plate 3, figure 3. 



History of the American introduction. This insect, discovered 

 early in the season, was undoubtedly imported with European pines 

 and, judging from the condition of certain infested trees on Long 

 Island, has been in this country three or four years. It is known to 

 occur in New York State at Great Neck, Westbury, near Mineola 

 and at Yonkers, while a recently issued circular of the Federal Bureau 

 of Entomology records it in addition, from Massachusetts, Rhode 

 Island, Connecticut, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. This wide dis- 

 semination was undoubtedly brought about by the shipment of in- 

 fested trees, since the condition of the trees attacked indicates a 

 probable local habit for the adults. 



Food p'ants. This borer has been recorded as infesting all kinds 

 of European pines and as equally injurious to American pines grown 

 in Europe. 



General characteristics of attack. The destruction of terminal 

 buds produces a marked deformation which can not be confused with 

 the work of the white pine weevil, Pissodes strobi Peck, or 

 with that of our native pine twig borers, such asEvetria frus- 

 t r a n a Scudd. , or Pinipestis zimmermani Grote. The 

 first attacks the bare twigs almost exclusively, while our native pine 

 twig moth borers confine their attacks to individual shoots, fre- 

 quently producing a dead tip here and there two to three inches long. 

 This recently introduced European pest habitually attacks several 

 adjacent buds, destroying or deforming them while in an incipient 

 stage (Plate 3 , figure 3) . Here and there one may find a peculiar bayo- 

 net-shaped deformation, though on badly infested trees dead, partly 

 developed buds are much more numerous. Trees in the latter con- 

 dition may be well headed back, stunted and with almost every ter- 

 minal showing several small, dead shoots. As many as six buds may 

 be destroyed in one whorl. The early stages of infestation are indi- 

 cated only by the rather obscure exudation of pitch, frequently 

 rather granular, at the base of the buds, and on examination a brown, 

 black-headed borer may be found within. 



Life history and habits. There is but one generation annually in 

 Europe, though fears have been expressed that the different climatic 

 conditions of America may result in the production ol two broods. 



