28 ■ Provincial Board of Horticulture. 1897 



THE PLUM CUECULIO (Conotrachdus nenuphar— nerhst). 



The diflferent stages are shown in the engraving above : (a) represents the 

 grub much magnified; (6) the chrysalis, and (c) the beetle, both 

 magnified ; (d) the young fruit, showing the orescent-shaped mark 

 made by the insect, and the ourculio, life size, at its work. 



So far as known, this pest of plum growers in Eastern States and Provinces does not 

 occur in British Columbia, but it is advisable that our fruit-growers should know the appear- 

 ance of the insect. It belongs to the family of snout beetles, so called from 

 "^^ ,. the shape of the head, which is elongated into a beak. The beetle is a small, 

 Plum Curcuho. j.^^gjj^ grayish insect, about one-fifth of an inch long. The female deposits 

 eggs in the young fruit of plums and cherries, causing them to drop prematurely, generally 

 before the larvae are full grown. 



The Imported Currant Borer {Sesia tipuliformis) is reported from New Westminster, 

 Burnaby, Vancouver, Vernon and Victoria. In the injurious stage of its existence this insect 

 is a small whitish larvae that burrows up and down the stems 

 Imported ^f currant and gooseberry bushes, stunting the growth and 

 urran r r. ^gjj^g^jjjg them unfruitful. It hatches from eggs deposited 

 singly on the young stems near the buds, early in summer, by a clear-winged 

 wasp-like moth, with a bluish-black body and three yellow bands across the 

 abdomen. The wings are transparent except at the borders, where they are 

 brownish black. The young larvse gnaw through the stem to the centre, where p*™"' ^'o'h. 

 they feed on the pith all summer, making a burrow several inches in length. When full grown 

 the larvae eat through the stem wall almost to the outside and then change to chrysalides. 

 When-these are ready to transform, they burst through and the moths crawl out. So far only, 

 one brood has been noticed in the year. 



All dead and weak shoots of infested bushes should be cut off and burnt, just as soon as 



leafing out shows where the attack is located, and every wilted shoot seen at any time should 



be cut ofi' below the point affected and burnt. Another preventive measure 



Remedies. which has been found effective by Mr. M. J. Henry, is to sprinkle the bushes 



and the ground adjacent with a mixture of air-slacked lime and carbolic acid, 



at the time when the parent moth is active, usually about the middle of May to the first week 



in June, varying somewhat with the locality. 



The Kaspberry Cane Borer (Oberea bimaculata) is reported from New Westminster, Hall s 

 Prairie, and Victoria. 



The adult of this insect is a slender-bodied, black beetle, with a yellow collar just behind 



the head. It appears early in summer, usually during June in the Northern States, and 



deposits eggs in the greeu canes of raspberries and blackberries. The process 



Raspberry ^f oviposition is peculiar. The beetle makes two transverse rows of punctures, 



about half an inch apart, in the cane; towards the tip and midway between 



these she deposits the egg. The rows of punctures make up a kind of girdling, which causes 



