INSECT AND OTHER PLANT ENEMIES. 



79 



will be half-drowned, so that the nest can be 

 dug out with safety. Every queen wasp de- 

 stroyed in spring prevents the building of a 

 nest. 



Leaf Enemies. 



Almond Aphis (Aphis Amygdali). — This is 

 the chief pest of the Peach, whether under glass 

 or on the open wall; but in the latter case, per- 

 haps, does most harm, because less directly 

 under the eye. It causes the young and grow- 

 ing leaves to curl badly, thus forming a protec- 

 tion for itself. The wingless viviparous females 

 are dusky-green, rusty-brown, or almost black 

 according to age. 



Remedies. — Under glass it is a safe expedient 

 to fumigate the trees before they come into 

 bloom, whether aphides are detected or not. In 

 bad cases, a small brush just kept moist with 

 paraffin is used to brush off the insects as they 

 cluster round the opening buds, but great care 

 must be taken not to touch the latter. The 

 young leaves, if infested, after they expand may 

 be wetted with the syringe and dusted with 

 tobacco-powder; this is a safe remedy, and is 

 very serviceable for trees on open walls if ac- 

 complished on the first appearance of the enemy. 



Apple Aphis (Aphis Mali). — The viviparous 

 females vary greatly in colour, from the slaty- 

 gray of those produced from eggs when the 

 leaves unfold in spring to the dusky -green, 

 yellowish, or rusty-red of later broods in June 

 and July. It is a large fat aphis, and does 

 great damage by causing the leaves to curl 

 backwards, forming a safe hiding-place, and 

 making the leaves and branches filthy with 

 their excrement. 



Remedies.— It is a good plan to wash the 

 trees forcibly by means of the garden engine. 

 This should be done on the first appearance of 

 the insect, and the ground raked afterwards to 

 destroy those knocked down. In bad cases the 

 bark may be scrubbed with a strong solution of 

 soft soap or Gishurst compound as for American 

 Blight. Tobacco -water, made from 1 lb. of 

 the former to 4 gallons of the latter, with \ lb. 

 of soft soap added, constitutes a good wash 

 with which to syringe the trees. 



Asparagus Beetle (Crioceris Asparagi). — 

 The perfect beetle is about 2h lines long, and 

 has red shoulders, with bluish-green wing-cases, 

 with red sides, and three whitish-yellow patches 

 on each, often uniting. The grubs are dirty- 

 olive, and may be found upon Asparagus from 

 June till September in company with the per- 

 fect form. There are several broods in a season. 



Remedies. — Large numbers of the beetle could 

 be caught in the early morning by two persons, 

 one carrying a tarred tray,, while the other 

 shakes down the insects into it. Another method 



Fig. 95.— Asparagus Beetle (Crioceris Asparagi), Larva, and Eggs (all 

 magnified). Natural length of egg and beetle shown by lines. 



of destroying all the forms at the same time is 

 to syringe the plants with water, about as hot 

 as the hand can well bear, while another strews 

 the ground with soot after shaking down the 

 grubs. White hellebore powder might be used 

 with which to dust the plants after cutting has 

 been completed for the season. On the other- 

 hand, boys might be employed to collect the 

 grubs and beetles when they have been knocked 

 down. 



Beet Carrion Beetle (Silpha opaca). — The 

 beetle is about 5 lines long, black, and covered on 

 the back with short, gray hairs. There are three 

 ridges on each wing-case. The larvae are flattened 

 like a wood-louse, toothed at the edges, black, 

 shiny, and are full-fed about the end of June. 

 They pass into the ground, change their form, 

 and come up again in two or three weeks. 



Remedies. — The greatest damage is done while 

 the plants are quite young. Good tilth and 

 the application of a dressing of superphosphate, 

 nitrate of soda, and other beneficial manures 

 would counteract the pest by enabling the Beet 

 to make rapid growth. Farmyard manure had 

 best be applied to the ground in autumn, but 

 artificial manures are best in summer, because 

 they afford nothing which would encourage the 

 beetle. 



Beet Fly (Anthomijia Betce). — The perfect 

 form of this insect is a small, two-winged, ashy- 

 gray fly, with darker markings and bristly hairs 

 on the body and legs. The grubs are legless, 

 and dirty-white, with two black processes at the 

 head by which they pierce their way into the 

 tissues of the leaves of Beet, and which they 

 reduce to a mere skin. 



Remedies. — Should the pest make its appear- 

 ance in the leaves of young plants in garden 

 cultures, the affected leaves should be removed 



