REPORT OF THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST I912 



63 



HICKORY BARK BORER 

 Eccoptogaster quadrispinosa Say 



The destructive work of the hickory bark borer in the Hudson 

 valley, begun some three years ago, has been continued the past 

 season. A number of dying trees were observed in the immediate 

 vicinity of New York City, while many others have been seriously 

 infested during the past season. A personal examination of con- 

 ditions at Tivoli showed that similar conditions prevailed in that 

 section.. 



Signs of infestation. The preliminary signs of injury, such as 

 wilting leaves and dead twigs during July and early August, are 

 exceedingly important because they indicate the presence of a 

 destructive pest before matters have passed the remedial stage. 

 The attack, as characterized above, simply indicates that the beetles 

 are about to enter the tree and that if affected twigs are numerous, 

 the pests may destroy the hickory. Examination of injured trees 

 in the fall or during the winter may show particles of brown 

 or white sawdust in the crevices 

 of the bark, and in the case of 

 some trees, a few to many circu- 

 lar holes appearing as though they 

 had been made by number 8 buck- 

 shot. The recognition of this 

 sawdust is a decided advantage, 

 since the dark brown or black, 

 rather stout, cylindric beetles 

 about one-fifth of an inch long 

 invariably start their galleries un- 

 der a protecting scale of bark 

 and the sawdust mentioned above 

 is therefore the only external evi- 

 dence of injury. Such trees are 

 more dangerous to the welfare of 

 adjacent living hickories than others which may be fairly peppered 

 with numerous exit holes. The external evidence cited above 

 should be followed up by cutting down to the sapwood. The ex- 

 posure there of longitudinal galleries one to one and one-half 

 inches long, about one-eighth of an inch in diameter and with 

 numerous fine, transverse galleries arising therefrom and gradually 

 spreading out somewhat fan-shaped, is conclusive evidence as to 



Fig. 8 Hickory bark beetle. 

 The smaller figure shows the 

 gallery of the adult and the 

 egg notches, the larger the gal- 

 leries of young larvae (orig- 

 inal) 



