CURRANT PESTS 
an earthen cell and transform to a pupa. 
They remain in the soil as a pupa until 
the following May when they emerge as 
adult flies. 
Control Measures 
This insect is not an easy one to control 
The fact that the egg is deposited under 
the skin of the fruit and that the larva 
spends its entire existence in the interior, 
makes poison sprays for the larva of no 
avail. 
Sweeping 
An insect net swept over the vines in 
the early forenoon during June should 
collect many of the flies. They could then 
be dipped in hot water or suds. 
Poultry 
Young poultry allowed to run in the 
patch a few hours each day will pick up 
the fallen fruit containing the maggots 
and materially Jessen next season’s crop 
of flies. 
Spading 
Advantage may be taken of the fact 
that the pest spends nearly 11 months in 
the soil. Spade up the soil thoroughly to 
a depth of four or five inches close up 
about the bushes. This will break up the 
pupal cells and expose the insect to un- 
favorable weather conditions and the at- 
tack of its enemies. 
Mulching 
Mulching heavily with straw in the 
spring might prevent the flies from emerg- 
ing as they are very weak when newly 
emerged. 
Currant Soft Scale 
Lecanium ribis Fitch 
There are occasionally noticed upon the 
stems of currants and gooseberries clus- 
ters of large swollen dark-brown polished 
scales, about 1-10 of an inch in diameter, 
beneath which, when mature in July, large 
numbers of white eggs may be found. 
These hatch during that month, and the 
small, mite-like young crawl all over the 
plant and suck the sap from the leaves 
and young growth. By autumn they have 
grown but little and are covered with a 
flat brown scale about 1-32 of an inch in 
length. As winter approaches, they crawl 
on to the twigs and pass the winter there. 
873 
During the spring of the next year they 
grow rapidly and, as they are sometimes 
in such numbers as almost to cover the 
twigs, they do a considerable amount of 
harm by sucking the sap at the time when 
the bushes require all their vigor to ripen 
fruit. 
Remedy 
Spraying the bushes in winter time 
either with the lime-sulphur wash or with 
kerosene emulsion, is the best treatment 
for this scale. 
Currant Span Worm 
Cymatophora ribearia Fitch 
This voracious caterpillar, which fre- 
quently does much harm to currants and 
gooseberry bushes, but particularly to the 
black currant, is more difficult to control 
than the common currant worm, the 
larva of the imported currant sawfly. 
The caterpillars are about an inch in 
length, of a whitish color, with yellow 
stripes down each side, and one down the 
middle of the back; the whole body is 
dotted with black spots of different sizes. 
There is only one brood of this insect in 
the year, the moths appearing about the 
end of June and in the beginning of July. 
The eggs are laid on the twigs during the 
latter month, and remain there unhatched 
until the following spring. The caterpil- 
lars may be found during June. 
Remedy 
It is necessary to use a much stronger 
poison for the currant span worm than 
for the ordinary currant worm. Paris 
green, arsenate of lead, or some other ar- 
senical poison, are preferable to the white 
hellebore usually recommended. When 
occurring only in small numbers, hand- 
picking is practicable, owing to the habit 
of the caterpillar of letting itself down 
by a strong silken thread when the 
bushes are disturbed. 
In addition to the above, which is the 
commonest of the span worms found on 
zooseberries and currants, there are occa- 
sionally found two much larger caterpil- 
lars of the same shape and looping move- 
ment of the body when walking. These 
are those of the currant angerona (Xan- 
thotype crocataria, Fab.) which has a 
caterpillar an inch and a half long or 
