INSECTS AFFECTING PARK AND WOODLAND TREES 



453 



Fruit tree bark beetle 



Scolytus rugulosus Ratz. 



A dark brown or bfack, stout beetle about yi inch long, runs longitudinal galleries 

 under the bark of plum, peach, cherry and apple. 



This species is well known as a fruit tree pest and it is mentioned in 

 this connection because it occasionally attacks wild cherry. I nfested branches 

 are badly tunneled by the numerous borings of both adults and larvae, result- 

 ing in their speedy death. Woodpeckers are very efficient natural enemies 

 and do much toward keeping this species and its allies in check. 



Sesia pictipes Gr. & Rob. 



A blue black clearwing having a wing spread of about i inch and with narrow 

 yellow bands on the abdomen and leg lives as a larva under the bark of plum and several 

 related trees. 



The larva of this species lives under the bark of plum, wild and culti- 

 vated cherries, beach plum, peach, juneberry (Amelanchier cana- 

 densis) and chestnut. It ranges from Canada to Florida and Texas and 

 westward to the Pacific. Its life history has been worked out quite full)- by 

 the late Dr James S. Bailey of Albany N. Y., and the following records are 

 taken from his account. 



The moths emerge during June and July, the most favorable time for 

 their appearance being between 8 and 10 o'clock in the morning. One 

 cluster of eggs, consisting of 92, was found by Dr Bailey on the under 

 surface of loosened bark within six inches of the root. During rainy days 

 he observed the caterpillars crawling out of the openings and drinking 

 the moisture from the wet surface. Larvae of all sizes from that of a fine 

 pin to those full grown were found beneath the bark of the infested tree. 

 The injured area was perforated with holes made for the exit of the pupa 

 and in other places the bark was cracked and its edges turned outward dis- 

 closing the split sapwood beneath. The pupal cells were constructed of 

 fine sawdust, cemented with gum and slightly excavated in the surface of 

 the sapwood. The pupae lay concealed with the head pointing to and in 

 contact with the perforations in the bark. 



