512 
hatched young offers a means whereby 
this insect can be held in check. Unin- 
fested trees can be protected by applying 
bands of some sticky substance as tangle- 
foot or tarred bands. 
_ Natural Enemies 
[For several years past the government 
entomologists have been importing vari- 
ous species of parasitic flies and predaci- 
ous beetles which, in the native habitat 
of the moth have served to hold it in 
check. After some years of waiting these 
Fig. 3. Chalcis wie Enemy of Brown Tail 
h. 
ot 
parasites have at length increased to such 
numbers as to begin to have an appre- 
ciable effect in controlling the moth and 
may eventually reduce their number.— 
Ed.] 
Buffalo Tree Hopper 
Ceresa bubalus Fab. 
H. F. WILson 
This insect is quite common through- 
out the United States and may do con- 
siderable damage when abundant. The 
common name applied to the adults is 
given on account of an imaginary simi- 
larity in shape to a male buffalo. The 
mature insect is grass green in color, 
triangular in shape and with the prono- 
tum projecting strongly into sharp points 
in front. The summit of the pronotum 
forms a longitudinal line extending on a 
slant to the tip of the abdomen. 
The injury done by this insect is 
caused by the cutting of the twigs and 
limbs of trees and nursery stock for the 
purpose of depositing eggs. When abun- 
dant smaller limbs often become so badly 
scarred and injured that they become 
ENCYCLOPEDIA OF PRACTICAL HORTICULTURE 
hidebound and cannot grow properly; as 
a result they are stunted and unthrifty. 
In addition, the scars form favorable 
receptacles for fungous growths and 
other insects. , 
The habits and life history have been 
taken from C. L. Marlatt. 
Habits and Life History 
The habits and life history of the buf- 
falo tree hopper are as follows: The adult 
insect chooses as a nidus for its eggs—the 
twigs, preferably those of two to three 
years’ growth, of various trees, partic- 
ularly the apple, willow, cottonwood, 
maple, etc., confines itself in general to 
the upper surface of the twigs. * -* #* 
The eggs are deposited quite as readily 
in the new growth of old trees, as in 
young trees, but the damage is much 
more noticeable in the latter case. * * * 
In depositing the eggs the bark is cut 
by the ovipositor in such a way that the 
narrow bark intervening between the two 
incisions is cut entirely loose. This has 
a very important bearing on the subse- 
quent condition of the wounds made by 
the insect in oviposition. The object is 
doubtless to cause a deadening of the 
wood between the two rows of eggs, to 
prevent their being crushed and choked 
out by the subsequent rapid growth of 
the twig, and it is due to this peculiarity 
that the injury later assumes so serious 
a nature. A single incision made by the 
insect to contain its eggs would heal over 
and cause little after-damage, but with 
the combination of two incisions and the 
killing of the intervening bark, causing 
it to adhere to the wood, a large scar is 
produced, which, with each subsequent 
year’s growth, enlarges and ultimately 
assumes an oval form, the dead bark of 
the center breaking out. After a few 
years, limbs which have been thickly 
worked on by the insect, become very 
scabby and rough, are easily broken off 
by the wind and are very liable to attack 
by wood-boring insects. 
The adults first appear about the mid- 
dle of July and become most numerous 
during August, or even earlier, and con- 
tinue this work until they are killed by 
