34 



CIRCULAR 270, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 



Figure 38.— Completed cotton tree band. 



slightly infested trees or limbs, consisting of l A pint of crude carbolic 

 acid, 1 gallon of fish-oil soap or other soap, and 3 gallons of water, has 



been recommended by the 

 Oregon Agricultural Experi- 

 ment Station. This should 

 be painted carefully on the 

 infested portions only. 



BRONZE APPLE TREE WEEVIL 



The bronze apple tree weevil 

 (Magdalis aenescens Lee.) at- 

 tacks devitalized apple and 

 prune trees, making several 

 small holes in a patch in the 

 bark. These are egg punc- 

 tures, and the grubs hatching 

 from the eggs feed beneath the 

 bark, causing a sunken, dis- 

 colored area about the size of 

 a silver dollar. The adult 

 beetles, which are small, 

 bronzy or black, and have 

 snouts, emerge the following 

 spring. Attacks of this weevil 



may be prevented and controlled in the manner described for the larger 



shot-hole borer (p. 33). 



FLOWER THRIPS 



Irregular whitish patches with dark centers very frequently appear 

 on the skin of apples (fig. 45). These have been called " pansy 

 spots," because they often 

 resemble pansies in shape. 

 They are most noticeable on 

 immature apples, and there 

 may be 25 or 30 of them on 

 a single fruit. They usually 

 disappear as the fruit ripens, 

 but persist on certain varieties, 

 such as the Mcintosh, North- 

 ern Spy, and York Imperial. 

 Badly spotted apples must 

 often be put in a lower grade. 

 The spots are the result of 

 egg punctures made by the 

 flower thrips (Frankliniella 

 tritici Fitch) and probably 

 other species. The thrips nor- 

 mally live in dandelions and 

 other flowers,' but are attract- 

 ed to the apple blossoms and lay many of their eggs in the newly 

 formed fruits. The thrips larvae emerge from these egg punctures, 

 leaving small holes in the skin of the apples. These holes become 

 the central spots of the " pansies." The irregular whitish areas that 



Figure 39.— Band of paper and sticky material. 



