872 
blister-like elevations of a reddish color, 
beneath which will be found yellowish 
plant-lice, some winged and some wing- 
less. The blisters are due to the attacks 
of these insects, and when, as is some- 
times the case, they are very abundant, 
considerable injury is done to the bushes. 
See Aphids. 
Remedy 
Spraying forcibly with whale-oil soap 
solution or kerosene emulsion will destroy 
large numbers of these plant-lice at each 
application; but the liquid must be copi- 
ously applied and driven well up beneath 
the foliage by means of an angled nozzle. 
Two or three applications at short inter- 
vals may be necessary. 
Currant Leaf Hopper 
Empoasca mal, Le Baron 
A frequent cause of considerable injury 
to the leaves of currants and gooseberries, 
is a small pale green leaf hopper which 
during May and June is found in large 
numbers beneath the leaves, from which 
it sucks the sap. This is the same insect 
that is often so abundant upon apple trees. 
The mature insect is a slender leaf hopper 
less than % of an inch in length, and 
passes the winter beneath rubbish, leaves, 
etc. It flies to the bushes in spring, as 
soon as they leaf out. The young wing- 
less leaf hoppers of the first brood may 
be found about the beginning of June, 
and should be destroyed before they de- 
velop their wings and propagate. 
Remedy 
Spraying the bushes with kerosene 
emulsion or whale-oil soap solution before 
the insects become winged, is the best 
remedy. Care must be taken to drive 
the liquid well up under the leaves. 
See also Apple Pests. 
JAMES FLETCHER, 
Ottawa, Can 
Currant Maggot or Gooseberry Fruit Fly 
Epochra canadensis Loew 
A. L. Lovertr 
This insect is possibly as serious a pest 
of the currant and gooseberry fruits as 
we have in the Northwest. The attack is 
on the fruit itself and causes it to become 
prematurely ripened and altogether worth- 
ENCYCLOPEDIA OF PRACTICAL HORTICULTURE 
less. The first indication of injury due to 
this insect is a small spot on the one side 
of the fruit where growth has apparently 
ceased. Later the fruit shows a cloudy 
appearance, becomes prematurely ripe and 
upon examination reveals a dark spot in 
the interior, which proves, when the fruit 
is opened, to be a small footless grub. 
The fruit drops to the ground, and as a 
result, the crop is shortened greatly or is 
entirely ruined. 
The adult of this maggot is a very 
pretty two-winged fly about the size of a 
house fly. It is of a pale yellow or orange 
color. The wings are marked with dusky 
bands. The grub or maggot is footless, 
white in color and with the body com- 
posed of 18 sezements. The head is armed 
with a pair of black, parallel, retractile 
hooks, the rasping organs of the maggot. 
Life History 
The adult flies emerge during May and 
may be observed about the bushes during 
late May and June. Soon after emergence 
the female commences depositing eggs. 
One female may lay as many as 200 eggs; 
usually she will deposit but a single egg 
in a fruit. The egg-laying process is in- 
teresting; the fly alights on the fruit and 
hurries about in a nervous manner, keep- 
ing the wings in constant fanning motion. 
When at last suited with the location she 
pierces the fruit with her ovipositor and 
pushes the egg under the edge of the skin. 
The egg hatches into a small white grub, 
which at once commences to feed and 
travel. Its route may be readily traced 
just under the skin by the discolored path 
of injured cells and excrement left be- 
hind. After traversing a greater or less 
distance around the fruit, the maggot 
turns to the interior and enters one of the 
seeds. After growing too large to remain 
in a seed, it binds several seeds together 
and continues to feed on their contents. 
Occasionally the larve leave the fruit be- 
fore it drops to the ground. More often 
they remain in the fruit until after it has 
fallen, where they complete their growth, 
and when ready to transform to a pupa 
crawl out of the fruit and into the soil. 
They enter the soil to a depth of about 
one and one-half inches, where they form 
