9 



wild raspberries, but it bas taken very kindly to tbe cultivated varieties and appears to like 

 them at least equally well. The perfect insect is a long horned beetle, with a long and narrow 

 black body with the top of the thorax and the fore part of the breast pale yellowish. The wing 

 oases are covered with coarse punctures, and sometimes there are two black dots on the thorajc. 

 It is usually about half an inch in length. 



This beetle appears on the wing in June, and after the pairing of the sexes, the female 

 proceeds to deposit her eggs which she does in a very singular manner. She attacks the young 

 growing cane and girdles it near the tip in two places, one ring being about an inch below the 

 other. Between the rings — sometimes nearer the upper one, but more commonly nearest the 

 lower one — the cane is punctured, and an egg thrust into its substance, near the middle. The 

 tip of the cane above the upper girdle at once begins to droop and wither, and soon completely 

 dies, when a touch will sever it at the point where it has been girdled, and no further growth 

 takes place on that part of the cane. 



The egii is a long and narrow one and quite large for the size of the insect ; imbedded in 

 the moist pithy substance of the cane, it soon begins to grow larger and in a few days it hatches 

 into a small grub. The egg when of full size much resembles the egg of an Orthopterous 

 inseat, and this resemblance led both ourselves and Mr. Riley into an error, which was thus 

 made public in our " Essay on the Raspberry, Blackberry, Strawberry and Currant." After 

 having given details of the working of the beetle much as above, the following remarks occur : 

 A closer examination into the cause of girdling of the cane as described above shows that it 

 is not always due to the beetle referred to, viz., Oberea. 



Indeed we now think it is doubtful whether that insect ever girdles the cane as des- 

 Cfibed. We know that it does destroy raspberry canes, for we have found its larva late in the 

 8e;:son boring down the middle of the stem, but at the suggestion of Mr. Riley, State Entomo- 

 logist of Missouri, we have carefully examined a number of these examples of girdling during 

 the summer, and found in every case that they were the work of an Orthopterous insect, one 

 of the Grasshopper family which, girdling and puncturing the cane as already detailed, deposits 

 a single long yellow egg in it, which when hatched produces an insect at once similar to the 

 parent but without wings, which works its way out of the cane to enter it no more." Mr. 

 Riley examined specimens of these eggs with us and we both felt persuaded that the conclusion 

 then arrived at was a correct one, basing our opinion mainly on the appearance and size of the 

 egg. But during the past summer with the view of placing this matter beyond the region of 

 conjecture we collected specimens of these eggs, and on the 12th of July, while examining 

 them under a microscope had the good fortune to see a young larva in the act of escaping, and 

 fully satisfied ourselves that they were the larvae of the beetle before referred to, Oberea. 



The following description of the young larva was taken under a microscope : — 



Length j-Joth of an inch. 



Head very small, reddish brown with a pale stripe down the front, and a few short yellow 

 hairs ; mandibles dark brown. 



Body yellow, smooth and glossy, roughened a little at the sides with very minute hairs, 

 the second segment or ring larger than the head, smooth, tinged with reddish brown in front 

 yellowish behind. The third segment is much swollen, while the remaining ones are nearly 

 uniform in size, but less in diameter than the third — no feet perceptible. This larva lived for 

 a few days only, when for want of the moisture and abundance of food which surrounds it 

 when in its natural position in the cane, it drooped and died. 



We have not yet seen the beetles in the act of depositing their eggs, but we have seen 

 them flying around among the raspberry canes, usually late in the day, towards evening, and 

 in a few days afterwards have noticed abundant evidence of their work in the drooping tips of 

 the ringed canes. When the young larva hatches it burrows down the centre of the stem 

 where it lives in the pithy portion until it is full grown. It is said to undergo the change to 

 the chrysalis state, also, within the stem where in due season the beetle matures and eats its 

 way out, thus gaining its liberty. 



The presence of these enemies may be easily detected by the sudden drooping and wither- 

 ing of the tips of the canes, they usually begin to operate early in July and continue for several 

 weeks ; hence by looking through the canes occasionally at this season of the year and remov- 

 ing all the withered tops doiun to the lowest ring, these insects may be easily kept under, for 

 they are seldom numerous. 



