INSECT AND OTHER PLANT ENEMIES, 



mites in the new buds, unless they be very 

 valuable. Cutting down and regrafting them 

 might have the desired effect of getting rid of 

 the mites.. Where the blistered leaves are not 

 too numerous, collect and burn them as soon as 

 the blisters can be seen, to destroy the mites in 

 them. Washing the foliage with insecticides 

 would be useless, unless it could be determined 



Fig. 112.— Pear-leaf Mite (Phytoptus Pyri). 

 1. Female. 2 and 3. Legs (magnified 550 times). 4. Infested Pear leaf. 



when the mites come out of the leaves to pass 

 into the new buds. 



Phylloxera (Phylloxera vastatrix). — See under 

 Root Enemies. 



Plum Aphides. — At least three species 

 are guilty of injuring the foliage of Plum-trees. 

 The Plum Aphis (Aphis Pruni) is perhaps the 

 most destructive, as it is the most common. The 

 wingless females vary from green to light olive- 

 brown, and are covered with a mealy powder. 

 They cause the young leaves to curl up, and 

 make them filthy with their excrement. Later 

 on, the Clear- wing Aphis (Hyalopteris Pruni) 

 covers the under surface of the leaves in dense 

 masses, causing them to curl backwards. The 

 wingless females are pale, glaucous or bluish- 

 green, and densely covered with a mealy powder, 



imparting the same hue to the leaves, which 

 become filthy. A variety of the Hop Aphis 

 (Phorodon Humuli Malaheb) may sometimes be- 

 come troublesome by infesting the lower surface 

 of the leaves in May and June, 



Remedies. — On a large scale the same washes 

 may be used as for the Currant Aphis. Another 

 cheap remedy is to dissolve 7 to 10 lbs. of soft 

 soap in 50 gallons of water to which the juice 

 of 2 oz.. of tobacco has been added. This may 

 be applied with the garden engine, and the 

 trees washed with clean water the following 

 morning. An important point with these insects 

 is to apply the remedies as soon as the pest is 

 first detected, to prevent the foliage becoming 

 curled and filthy. The young leaves in spring 

 are very liable to be attacked and the growth 

 of the shoots checked. The worst of the leaves 

 attacked by the Clear-wing Aphis might be 

 collected and burnt. 



Red-footed Beetle (Luperus betulinus). — 

 The perfect beetle is about 2 lines long or 

 slightly over, and of a glossy black, except the 

 legs and the base of the horns, which are reddish- 

 yellow. In some districts it is very abundant, 

 and usually preys upon Willows, but sometimes 

 attacks Pear and Apple-trees, destroying the 

 foliage during June and July. 



Remedies. — Where the small, black beetles 

 prove troublesome, an easy remedy would be 

 to spread a white cloth under the trees and 

 shake them down upon it. If this is done early 

 in the morning, the beetles will then be sluggish 

 and less liable to fly away before they are col- 

 lected. A freshly-tarred cloth, or one saturated 

 with paraffin, would be more effective in prevent- 

 ing flight. 



Red-legged Garden Weevil (Otiorhynchus 

 tenebricosus). — The perfect weevil is slightly 

 under J inch long, black, and rather glossy, 

 with reddish-brown legs. The wing-cases are 

 very finely wrinkled, with tufts of gray hairs in 

 the depressions, and have very fine lines upon 

 them. The larva or grub is fat, legless, dirty- 

 white, and feeds upon the roots of various plains 

 from August to April following, when it changes 

 to the pupa stage, and a fortnight later reaches 

 the perfect state. The weevils then prey upon 

 the leaves, buds, and young shoots of many 

 fruit-trees, particularly those trained upon walls, 

 or in fact upon trees wherever they can find 

 sufficient shelter. Where plentiful, they seem 

 to prefer gardens, which they frequent, doubt- 

 less, because they find plenty of food. The 

 grubs are equally as mischievous to the roots of 

 bush fruits, Raspberries and Strawberries. 



