CHAP. IX 



PESTS 



143 



late pruning, after the plants have burst into leaf, is the 

 only prevention that I know of ; when this measure has 

 been found necessary through the earliness of the 

 season, a considerable diminution is found in caterpillar 

 numbers ; and it is plain that in such cases the parent 

 insects have laid their eggs on the bursting buds at the 

 top of the shoots, and that all have been happily swept 

 away at the pruning. 



I was surprised on first looking into the matter to find 

 that most of the common caterpillars or grubs which 

 haunt and injure the Rose are the larvae of moths. 

 We sometimes see a good many flies of different sorts 

 and sizes about our Rose shoots on sunny days in April 

 and May, but rarely moths, though there may be, later 

 on, two or three moth grubs on every plant. The reason 

 of this would probably be that the parent moths visit 

 the plants only at night or at all events in the dusk, 

 and that they are mostly small, insignificant, fluttering 

 insects of the most harmless appearance, and likely in 

 general to be unnoticed. 



Among the flies we may perhaps notice some active 

 creatures, less than half an inch long, looking something 

 like slender-bodied long-legged ants, with iridescent 

 wings ; these will be saw-flies, the parents of very hurt- 

 ful grubs, and each one caught will probably save some 

 trouble and loss. On the other hand some of the flies 

 may be ichneumons, which lay their eggs in the bodies 

 of caterpillars and therefore do good, but it is a safe 

 rule to suspect all insect life ; foes are numerous and 

 friends are few, and the more free the Roses are from 

 insects of any sort, the better they will be. Bear in 

 mind, however, that, next to the aphis or green fly, 

 certain small moths are the commonest enemies of 

 Rose plants, and if any such innocent-looking flutterers 



